Tatting Tea Tuesday - At Last!

Finally, a day off from work on a Tuesday!  That's the only problem with working for a living - it seriously cuts into your free time!  I didn't think about Tatting Tea Tuesday until DH brought me a mug of hot tea this morning, and then my brain went into overdrive.

I am posting from my bed, with the laptop balanced on one knee and probably a dozen containers of various types and sizes stacked precariously around me.  All contain something to do with tatting - some have just thread, some have just tools, and some have a mixture of both.  This little one has a UFO in it.


I will tell you that DH makes a delicious cuppa - I had two already, and contemplated asking for a third - but he's gone out, so I'm on my own for a little while.  I believe it was the tea sold at Aldi Foods, very good but unflavored.  He did put some of their hazelnut creamer in it, and I enjoyed it very much!  I think we might have some Lady Grey in the kitchen - I've gotten to like it even better than Earl Grey, which I love.  There should be some English Breakfast as well and possibly some Green/White Fusion (which is even healthy for you, in addition to tasting good!).

As to tatting - what to do?  I could work on the UFO, if I remembered exactly what it was supposed to be - I may just "wing it" and see what happens.  I also was thinking about working on something for Spring; I'm a bit bored with white snowflakes!  I'm also bored with the soggy, dreary weather that passes for winter in the Deep South. 

At least the UFO is in Spring colors...and there are beads with it...maybe I could tat a bracelet?  And the rain has stopped...and the sun is playing hide-and-seek with the clouds...so I'm going to get busy!  Maybe I'll have a new bracelet to wear to work tomorrow!

Christmas Came Early This Year!

I was running a little late when I got home this evening - David greeted me at the door with, "You got a package in the mail today."  I found it on the bed when I went in to change clothes.  OH, BOY - IT'S FROM DIANE!!!

I eagerly opened the packet and spilled the contents onto the bed.  WOW - a ball of Lizbeth (my favorite thread!) in size 20 (my favorite size!), in a colorway I didn't already have (!!!)!  Two - count 'em - TWO of the new Starlit shuttles, all dressed up for Christmas!!  And to carry everything - one of Diane's handmade origami pouches in a Christmassy print!!!
It's been a hard couple of weeks at work and we're not out of the woods yet - got to get through the End-of-the-Year tasks first.  And before Year End - we have Christmas (let's see, ham is in the freezer...) and I'm NOT ready yet!!!

But if anything can put me in a Christmassy mood, it's Diane's wonderful gift!  I think I'll go hunt up the "Charlie Brown Christmas" DVD, make a hot cuppa, and settle in for some Christmas TATTING!!!

It has been a very busy couple of weeks at work - long days followed with exhaustion-induced sleep (think comatose), and very little time for anything else.  I tatted a bit at lunchtime, though!

I may have forgotten to mention - I did have an entry in this year's South Carolina State Fair, in Columbia, SC, in October.  I won a blue ribbon for my necklace, and - shock of my life - I also won one of the Palmetto Tatters Awards!

The ribbon is for Most Innovative Tatted Design, for my necklace.  Isn't the Palmetto award ribbon beautiful?  Pam Freck did the tatted snowflake and the lettering!

Monday, it's back to work; but for now, I can work on some tatting that's been percolating in the back of my mind for a couple of weeks!  Gonna go get my shuttles RIGHT NOW!!

The Tatter From Out of Town!

Everyone who reads Ladytat's blog knows that Jeanne planned a trip to Charleston, SC.  When she contacted me to inquire about the upcoming Palmetto Tatters meeting (which was yesterday), I was thrilled that she might come visit with us!

It is one of the very nicest things, to meet in person someone with whom you've corresponded online.  Jeanne is a wonderful, very down-to-earth person - and a terrific tatter!  She brought show-'n-tell items, including a pair of earrings that tried to play hide-and-seek.

The lesson was Riet Surtel-Smeulders' Lock-Chain Snowflake, which she taught at the 2011 Tat Days - Tatting in a Winter Wonderland's Night Owls session.  It's a cute pattern, and it's included on the Pattern CD - which you can order here.  I tied mine to my (current) tatting bag!

We had a wonderful time yesterday tatting and chatting, and finished up with supper at a local restaurant, Lizard's Thicket, which is just good home cookin'.  Yumm!!

I'm working on this year's give aways for the office; we'll see how they turn out. I'm using Altin Basak metallic, and it can be ..um.. challenging to tat without breaking the filament.  We'll see if I'm up to the challenge!  Time is creeping up on me - Christmas is right around the corner, as evidenced by the Greenwood Christmas tree, resplendent in lights on the square.  We were on our way home, and on a whim, I shot this through the truck window.  It was only about 8.30, although it looks like midnight!

Later, that same day... Almost forgot - here is a picture of the Lock Chain Snowflake I tatted in class.  I think it turned out well - looks like it fell through a rainbow!

On the Square!

It's been a horrendously busy week, but I still managed a little tatting time!  I love MK's Curds & Whey edging; it's a lovely straight piece that can be coaxed to a slight curve.  And this made me wonder: could it turn a corner?

Yes, it can!  And it's easy-peasy, too!  When you are very close to your corner, make sure your next repeat has the small rings on the outside.  Next repeat, make only 3 small rings inside.  Next repeat (the corner) has the small rings on the outside: make 5 of them.  Next repeat, make only 3 small rings inside.  Now, you're back to tatting the pattern as written.

You can even make a small square!

MK's Leaf Braid Variations!

Tatting with Visual Patterns is still under copyright, so I can't write up the pattern here.  However, I can tell you that it's on page 18 in the 2002 Lacis soft-cover edition, and it's easy-easy-easy!

The variations, though, are mine - and while I can't write out the exact pattern, I can describe how to tat the wreath and the zig-zag.  These have not been test tatted!

Wreath:  1 shuttle.  Size 20 will take at least 4 yards, and I'd load 5 yards to be on the safe side (why add thread later if you can avoid it?).  Size 20 Opera is a little thinner than size 20 Lizbeth, so 4 yards should do fine (but you know your own tatting style, so load what you are comfortable with.  If you want beads like my wreath has, string 27 before you begin - put one ring in the ring thread for every ring you tat, and let it stay at the base of each ring.

1st ring - tat only the 1st ring of the set.  Reverse the work and tat both rings of the set.  *Reverse the work and join the last picot of the 1st ring you tatted to the shuttle thread (yep, it's a shuttle join).  Now tat the 1st ring only again.  Reverse the work and tat both rings of the set.  Repeat from * around; when you see that you've got just about enough room for one more inner ring, tat it and be sure to join it to the 1st ring; then, when you reverse work to tat the last set of rings, remember to join to the first ring of the first set (it's tricky!). Hide the ends.  Sew or glue a bow in place where you like it.

Zig-zag:  A little trickier than the wreath, because you're tatting the first ring of the set on each side instead of just on one side.

1 shuttle.  Tat the 1st ring only of the set, and reverse the work.  Tat both rings of the set, and reverse the work.  Join the last picot of the 1st ring with a shuttle join and tat both rings of the set.  Reverse the work and tat the 1st ring only of the set, and reverse the work.  You should start to see a pattern of rings:  single ring, 2 sets, single ring, 2 sets; the other side should have set of rings, single ring, 2 sets, single ring.

Have fun!

MK's Leaf Braid Again!

I had another idea for Mary Konior's Leaf Braid -- could it be tatted as a zig-zag?

Yes, it can!

  

I also finished a wreath!  This one is tatted with Opera size 20; I think it's just a bit smaller than Lizbeth size 20.  The bow is plastic and came from Hobby Lobby; because it already had the hole in a convenient place, I joined to the ring thread with a lark's head knot.  I've got to tell you, though, it made tatting after joining into the bow a little fiddly -- the bow is rigid plastic and it's a bit cumbersome.  This wreath also came out with 10 points - so I'm going to tat another wreath in the same thread, but without joining into the bow (I'll attach it afterwards) and see how it does.