Glow Tats

Tagged

2007-10-23T09:15:00.000-04:00

I have been tagged by http://threadsofatattinggoddess.blogspot.com/ , Gina.
She has tagged me as a gentle nudge to update my blog, she is kind that way, subtle. It's like a nice warm hug that says, you are too quiet, I miss you. Thanks Gina.

Here are the rules which you must abide by if you are tagged.
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 3 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Facts, just the facts, ma'am!
1. I am happier at this point in my life than I have been in years.
2. My grandmother taught me to tat when I was around eight years old, she used sized 80 thread, and the old traditional rings, chains, tie and cut tatting, done in reverse riegeo.
3. I'm no longer five feet short, I'm even shorter, sigh.......
4. After a thirty year relationship, my husband left, to be with a younger woman.
5. I think the word divorcee sounds sooooo sexy!
6. I talk to my betta fish, Flip and Finnigan. "Here fishey fishey, do you want a nice freeze dried blood worm?"
7. My knitting habit has become an obsession.

I tag Sue http://yorkiesuetatting.blogspot.com/
I tag Sherry http://ladyshuttlemaker.blogspot.com/
I tag Sharon http://sharonstattedlace.blogspot.com/

Summer Vacation

2007-08-30T08:55:00.000-04:00

What I did on my summer vacation: I knitted, I sewed, and I tatted, but clearly I didn't blog. My daughter, the computer hog, snort snort, has gone back to art classes, yipee! She's happy, I'm happy, and I get some computer time, wheeee.

Motif 18, yea I'm still working on last year's 25 motifs, is that ok. The doily from the front of the Tatting from Burda book is finished. I have learned a few tricks along the way and am pleased with the result.

Worth Waiting

2007-06-28T22:24:00.000-04:00

I've had this orchid for 2 1/2 years, I think it was worth the wait.

Lesson Learned

2007-05-24T11:33:00.002-04:00

Some lessons must be learned more than once, blush, yes I have often made the same mistake twice. It starts innocently as a trip to a yarn shop, where I buy one skein of something wonderful to try, I like it so then I buy more later from a different person, and by the time I get to using it, my garment has multiple dye lots. This is the front of a great pattern from Art Yarns, triangle tank, it is modular knitting. The unmatched yarn is from South West Trading Company, 100% bamboo, really nice and I expect it to only get nicer, softer with washings. Notice the top band is a tad bit darker, yep different dye lot, but this pattern uses my ooops to it's best advantage, wink wink.

Thanks ladies for the lovely comments on my doily, and yes it is still in progress, last round is better than half way around. The thread is a sewing machine decorative thread, sulky size 30 blendables, cotton and tats like the DMC 50.

Knitting UFO Finished

2007-05-14T09:59:00.000-04:00

Two seconds on the floor and the Blues Brothers think it is for them.

Silly cats!

Final Round

2007-05-11T09:55:00.000-04:00

Woo Hoo, I figured out the problem that had this doily in danger of becoming an UFO. The snowflake book has a block tatted flake the looks similar to the center of this, and it starts with one chain of a block, goes to the center ring, and then back out to finish the block, yippee. This eliminates the need to cut after only one ring, or my solution of leaving one block with only four chains. I can't take credit for this genius, thanks Lene Bjorn, it's a simple and brilliant fix. Five done, fifteen to go, I think the last round is what makes this doily pop.

Motif 17

2007-05-09T11:12:00.000-04:00

From the book Tatted Bookmarks-cross-shaped design by Lene Bjorn, this one is Camilla. I really like this book, patterns are diagrammed with a few written instructions. I also have the tatted snowflakes book by Lene Bjorn, very impressed because they seem to be designed to climb out of each round, limiting extra joins. All the crosses have the fancy tassels coming off the top of the cross, it just looks like antenna to me, it makes me giggle, so I put them at the bottom where it just seems more natural.

Motif 16

2007-04-29T16:11:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know I'm should be finishing this same doily I started earlier in a variegated yellow orange, but I was helping a friend get started on one for her and my sample just took on a life of it's own. The new shuttle was a what I gave myself as a consolation for not being able to go to Lafayette Lace Day. It's one of Sherry's ceramic shuttles, love the colors, had to file it with the sandpaper she sent to get it to take the size 40 thread. I didn't expect the ends to be that nice and tight, well as you can see, haha, it seems to tat very nicely. The next row is the hairy row, all the threads poking out to mark the following row's joins, I sort of like it at this stage and might just see where the design leads from here.

Motif 15

2007-04-27T15:24:00.000-04:00

I purchased three inexpensive ceramic eggs at Hobby Lobby, $1 each, thought I'd cover them with tatting for my Easter basket. This motif was going to be one side, top or bottom for an egg, but the three rows of chains I like so much, make it not want to mold around the egg. These kind of design issues can put the whole project on the side line, or as a knitting friend says, she puts her projects in the time out chair, where they get punished for not behaving. Now I think it will become two projects, a small doily or coaster and then a restart fresh for the eggs, maybe next Easter.

Sarah's Bag

2007-04-25T18:39:00.000-04:00

This is Sarah's first hand spun yarn . She handed it to me and said "knit something with it" So here it is finished, a bag to hold projects, yarn, or unspun fibers. A basic circular bottom, straight sides, reduce stitches slightly in last round and then add a 3 stitch I cord edge for stability and handles. A simple no brain no pattern fun knit. Her multi colored batt made pretty yarn and striped nicely in the bag. Normally I would felt this kind of a bag but with her handspun I really wanted to save the look and texture of the original yarn.

I'm Backkkkk

2007-04-24T20:10:00.000-04:00

Ok yea I've been back from Vegas a long time, but just haven't gotten back into my routine of blogging. I knitted those socks, partly, while lounging at the pool at the tropicana, ahhhhh, warm sunshine, very nice! See who wanted in the picture, hehe. Elwood plopped down on me for a snooze even before I could get the camera focused, silly cat. Elly is a big baby. Oh the trip was fabulous, we did nothing of redeeming value, played slots, some blackjack on a machine, hung out, had a few drinks, laughed lots, and behaved badly, great fun, great friends.

( yarn was a cheap wallymart, crochet thread, it knitted nicely, colors pooled instead of striped, wants to fuzz slightly but would use again)

Welcome Spring

2007-03-21T17:38:00.000-04:00

I picked my last bouquet of tiny dafodils from my old house, each bloom is only two inches across at the most. Aren't they sweet in the little one cup tea pot, just perfect for a beautiful spring day.

I will be gone next week on a well deserved trip with a couple of girl friends, off to Vegas, hehee. We plan on being very bad, but don't ask, because what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Next Round

2007-03-18T11:00:00.000-04:00

Now that the round is finished, I think I would do this doily my way again, it really went easier than I expected. Note to myself, remember the next time that the chain really doesn't need to be as big as you think, pull it up a little, so it is snugger and lays straighter. Blocking should help with that problem. The lines radiating out from the center surprised me, not apparent in the picture from the book but a nice design element. The last round should take awhile as it is made of 20 motifs very similiar to the center, 8 blocks instead of 10 around. I need to slow the tatting down and break this arthritis flare before my trip to Las Vegas next week.

Hairy Mess

2007-03-15T16:46:00.000-04:00

Not following the pattern can have it's own unconsidered results. The next round will either make or break it. I was suppose to do the next round free standing, unconnected to the center and then the round I just finished was suppose to put the center and the next round together. So all the hairs are marking joins in those chains for the following round. I hope it works out, it has to, everything else in my life has been a mess this week, I need this to work out, think positive. Oh, I did have to add more thread but there are still real no cut and ties, ha.

Motif 14

2007-03-10T20:40:00.000-05:00

Look I'm actually tatting this week. The fingers are slightly swelling and I'm not too sore, but I should rest it a day or so before I continue farther with this doily. It's on the cover of Tatting from Burda book. Yep I've already cheated on the pattern, so far I've done no cuts and ties. The lengths I go to, it's silly, it really isn't that hard to hide an end, but yet, I just want to go as far as I can and not cut. The first row of blocks has one with only four chains, since I climbed out of the center. A split ring got me to the second round, which I combined the next row of blocks into, then climbed out of the next two rounds with split chains. I am ready for the next round but it will have to be cut after that, sigh. It's a challenge, or a mind game, like tatting sudoku.

Black Shawl

2007-03-04T16:04:00.000-05:00

It has been a frustrating few weeks, attempting to close the house I moved out of last year with sellers and their incompetent realtor. Instead of coming to a closing, they went to see a lawyer, and now one week later they think they might want the house after all, if we release them of the previous contract, return their earnest money, they might write a new contract. It's so insulting! So I have done brainless knitting, a shawl, no pattern, cast on two sts., increase in first stitch every row and knit until the yarn almost runs out, bind off. Keeps the fingers busy and the brain from thinking too much, just what is needed when dealing with not so nice people. Oh, I won't release then from the previous broken contract until I have a new approved contract. I'm not stupid!

Shuttles

2007-02-22T11:56:00.000-05:00

I love to look at everyone's shuttles, so I decided to share a picture of some of my toys. These are my nicer old shuttles, collected over many years. Some I have had for 15 + years, others were gifts, and some were ebay purchases. Ebay can be a dangerous thing, haha. The larger bone crochet hooks came from my grandmother's sewing box, it screws together in the middle, not sure why. The small hook has a chain with a picot gauge, from Rosita. You ebayers know Rosita, it's fun and I love it, but I'm not so sure it's authentic antique. One of the shell shuttles has a small metal pick at the end for joins, it can be turned back into the shuttle, it's quite different. The four silver shuttles are all Websters, nice to tat with, mmmm. Above the silver shuttles are two made of wood, they are carved from one piece, so the ends are open, and the top one has an ebony inset. Only one is plastic, celluloid, or whatever, it's in the center and looks to be leaves. This came from an antique store and I carried it in purse or pocket for years not knowing I should be taking better care of it, well loved and well used. Ooops my picture is fuzzy when enlarged, I should take a better one.

More Socks

2007-02-18T14:43:00.000-05:00

Snow has been on the ground now for several weeks, so much snow it is in mounds everywhere and ice that it is hard to get the car up and out of the garage without bumping the van top on the garage door. A good case of cabin fever is the result. Stuck inside, I've done a set of socks in record time, for me that is. These are in a cotton wool mix, lana grossa, much softer than sockotta. The stitch is a lacey ribbing, simple and fun. I don't like to do socks in a complicated pattern, they are the knitting I like to drag around to chat and knit events. A complicated pattern makes for either not chatting, or to much unknitting later. These are a gift to my youngest, Jeannette, who will be 22 next week. She likes to wear dress pants, gray or black, wide at the bottom, with pin stripes, these should go well with her neutral colored wardrobe.

wool mitts

2007-02-15T19:47:00.000-05:00

My poor hand spun hand knitted mitts have been badly abused this week in the Ohio snow, shoveling, they are all dirty now. They are spun from a fleece artist 50 gms of wool silk blend, Sooo Sooooft and yummmy! I worried and worried that there would not be enough yarn for two mitts and look I had enough for a headband also. I need to keep better track of how many yards in the hand spun yarn and LABEL it before I put the ball away. The pattern should also be marked how much yarn needed, use smaller needles next time or a few fewer stitches. They sure are nice and warm though, ahhhhhh.

Side note, this cable was a nice easy fun pattern, one row of cable, three rows straight . Why can I never figure out if I've knit two or three rows?, duh 1, 2, 3, cable. I can count to three really, I just can't remember if I'm at row 2 or 3.

I feel so silly. I don't do this with tatting, 1 &, 2 &, 3 & uuhhh 2&, 3 no 4 &.

whewwwww

2007-02-11T20:27:00.000-05:00

Dang, it was sure hard to get into my blog today, they made upgrade to the new blogger. Hope there aren't too many changes to learn, I'm in the mood for keep it simple this week. Life seems too complicated, don't want the blog thing to be another brain drain. My drain today was to figure out how to load the pictures from my new cell phone to my computer and now to the blog. OK here goes. WooHoo My brain is so proud of itself, hehe. These gauntlets are knitted in wool, silk and are my first beaded knitting. Jeannette made fun of them as I was knitting #1 and before I could finish #2 she had claimed them as hers. They do look better on her long thin young wrists. They suit her style.

Motif 13

2007-02-02T11:59:00.000-05:00

A one pass butterfly. How much do I hate to hide ends, so much I've redone this butterfly pattern so it can be tatted in one pass and only two ends to hide. The original was a guild member's estate sale find, so I have no idea who was the original designer. If no one objects? I can share my retake of this pattern for the calendar project. The lovely rainbow thread was a secret santa gift from Hope, thanks Hopie. It has no label but it looks to be a fancy quilting thread, isn't it great.

Now I will always remember what Georgia said to me, that the variegated threads are fun but the design element of the tatting gets lost in the colors. So tatting in variegated threads rarely wins awards. I'm not interested in winning but what a shame to lose the design effect. So this thread will be reserved for fabulous edgings, bookmarks, butterflies, hearts, flowers, many fun things and my doilies and larger pieces will be done in a thread that has less personality.

HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY!!!!

Motif 12

2007-01-31T21:35:00.000-05:00

This is a heart that Gina recently posted on her Tatting Goddess blog. It was designed by Dorcas Newkirk, all rings are split rings but the point of the heart. Very neat design! Thanks Dorcas for sharing the pattern, and thanks Gina for showing it to us. Mine is tatted in thread that is probably a wildflowers by Caron, about a size 20, a soft thread that needs to be tatted loosely to close the rings easily. The beautiful colors make it worth the effort. Yep the picots on the right side are bigger than the left, took me awhile to get even tension going. Must be too much knitting lately and not enough tatting. Need to fix that.

Spinning

2007-01-26T18:53:00.000-05:00

My middle daughter has become a spinner, yipee, Sarah! Dad gave her a used ashford wheel for Christmas and she is doing well for not having one on one help. Wishing I lived closer. She sent this picture of her first yarns, singles, still needs to learn to ply. I can tell there is some improvement in the yarn on the right, it's more consistent. The family cats seem to be a spinning issue, won't leave her alone, playing with the foot pedal, the wheel the fiber. Today they found the lazy kate and had a great time unwinding all the bobbins and knotting it all into a mess. Bad kitties, hehehe

Felted Purse

2007-01-24T14:17:00.000-05:00

This purse was an asked for Christmas gift for my youngest daughter. Being an art fine arts major she had to help choose the colors and pattern style, four wool greens lt, med, mixed, and mixed darks, and add six fancy yarns, ribbon, fuzzy, or slubbed decorator yarns, almost all from existing stash and knit in many combinations of a wool and a fancy together. Lots of ends, but with felting projects, just pull all ends into the center and forget them, after felting they get cut short, simple no hassle. Using large needles this knit fabric grew so fast it was amazing, and at it's unfelted beginnings it was so large it was just plain funny. I gave this a heavy shrink so it is a nice sturdy purse, hope she decides to use it, as it would have made a pretty sweater unfelted, just loved the colors, mmm greens, bits of brown and hints of turquoise.

Housewives

2007-01-20T11:18:00.000-05:00

Before Christmas I was busy making housewives, all but one have gone on to better homes. The red celestial to a local tatting guild friend, the butterflies to a far away tatting friend, and the sunflowers to my daughter a tatter. I'm wishing I had taken final pictures with the beaded fobs, pin felts, and other decorations, just as a record for future use. The garden cat one is still unfinished and may become a knitting house wife for me. I do have a picture of a tatted flutter from the butterfly wife, this will be motif #11 in my challenge. It is a variations of an Adelheid Dangela book Tatted Butterflies, I love that little book. It is tatted in size eighty thread with size 15 beads added around the edges, fun.

Warning whine zone ahead!
Speaking of housewives, I sick of being treated as a stupid housewife, a dumb woman, or an unequal to men person. I go to put my car insurance in my name, fine but they phone him and ok it imediately after I leave, grrrr, would they do that to a man. I can't take my cell phone number to my new provider unless he handles the exchange because it's in his name, grrrrrrrr, notice the grrr is getting longer. I go downtown to the housing authority to handle my missing rent checks and transfer paper work , but now I'm not a valid person, he must do it even if it is now my property, grrrrrrrrrrrrr. Maybe if I was six and a half foot tall, big and hairy, loud and rude, with a overgrown mustache, I would get some respect, hmmp. Gotta work on that, hehe.

Socks X 4

2007-01-16T11:17:00.000-05:00

Look, things have been so weird I even forgot I've knitted not one but two pair of socks this month. Socks are such an addiction, I should start a ten step group to kick sock knitting. It's more widespread than most think, this addiction, must have more sock yarn, ahhh, stroke the nice soft sock yarn, oooo look at the pretty colors of sock yarn, relax and sooth yourself with some sock yarn. Be warned normal people, we are a big group, hahaha, perhaps we will one day rule the world and there will be no worries or wars in a world where every store carries SOCK YARN.

Pictures

2007-01-14T10:20:00.000-05:00

Ok I promised Pictures, so here is the Christmas ball I tatted for Maureen. The pattern was an ad lib from a Mary Konior design out of her Lace whatever book. Duh, dang it, give me 6 weeks and I've almost forgotten how to do this ball and can't even remember the name of the book, it's on the shelf somewhere. Clearly the shelf is more organized than my brain lately and I can't find the book to correct the name. Ok there is a small motif that is done in mignonette, the bottom of the ball is that pattern, but don't increase the mignonette rows, do about nine rows or whatever needed to reach around the ball, finish ends off. The top is a version of the bottom but starts on a later row to make it open for the hanger to peak through. Connect picots on second row of top to the bottom, be sure to slide ball in before it gets to tight, and fumble your way through the rest of the round connecting top to bottom while tatting and holding the glass ball in your hand. No cussing allowed, do it over carpet because it is going to get dropped, also a spiked drink helps with concentration and patience, hehe. This is motif #10.

MIA

2007-01-13T21:48:00.000-05:00

Wow I can't believe I've been MIA, missing internet activity for two months but life does manage to get in the way. First it was everything I was working on was for a Christmas present and could not be shown, now I can. Pictures coming soon! Then come January I'm struggling with the legal issues of my separation and up coming dissolution. Dissolution is an interesting word, it says nothing, dis_solution, not a solution at all, a non solution. How can a couple who can not communicate and live together be expected to agree on how to divide 28 years of life.
This month I have been knitting and spinning, a pair of socks in a cotton wool blend, and some fingerless mitts in a merino and silk handspun. So I have not given up on my creating. It seems to be the biggest part of who I am, the need to create seems to be there always, calling me to another pattern, fiber, bead, or thread. Those who don't have this need, what are they missing? What do they do in the evenings? I can't even imagine, my need is too great.

Poinsettias

2006-11-12T10:52:00.000-05:00

Ahhhhh, doesn't it bring a smile to your face, a green house full of poinsettias, but especially for me, as my daughter Sarah has grown these beauties. Some of you have met Sarah at Palmettos in 2005, she also tats, yep, another proud mommy smile. She is the assistant grower at this greenhouse and is growing poinsettias for the big poinsettia tree at Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus.
Now I know many of you are like me, hand me a poinsettia and it's a death sentence. I could kill one of these in a week flat. Maybe that's why we appreciate them so much, all that beauty lasts such a short time.

Motif 9

2006-11-11T19:55:00.000-05:00

This is another Mary Konior cross, it's called Rockingham and it's from the Tatting in Lace book. I left her design just the way she intended but did tat the cross in one pass with split rings down into the lower arm. I hate to hide ends and will often make changes so I don't need to hide as many. It's tatted in a light gold DMC thread size 12, rings close easy and smooth, no twisting threads, mmm mmm good, makes tatting a joy.

Motif 8

2006-11-05T18:27:00.000-05:00

This cross was designed by Lindsay Rogers, it is in the 25 Years of the Ring of Tatters book. Mine is tatted in Altin Basak, hmmmm that doesn't look spelled right. Nice thread but it wants to twist on me more than I like. Oh I did make a very slight change in a few of the rings that are in the bends by the center, they are 6 ds smaller and minus one joining picot. It must be a sickness, I never just seem to follow the pattern, sometimes I stray because of an ooops, but usually the mind is just thinking too much as the fingers tat, and I get ideas about how to do it different. Now different isn't always better, it can be quite worse at times, but it's never boring.

Spiral Scarf

2006-10-31T10:30:00.000-05:00

I have just created my first knitting pattern and wrote it all out nice to be sold. This is a step into new territory for me, I've never actually sold a pattern. Well I still haven't officially sold one yet, but my fingers are crossed. These are a silly fun knit, a goofy corkscrew of a scarf, the one in sock yarn could be so much fun with all the self-striping sock yarns available, and the lacey one in mohair is more of a dressy poof with character.

Goddess Attempt

2006-10-26T11:15:00.000-04:00

My first attempt at the goddess isn't quite right, now she isn't a total scrap but she needs revisions. I did draw and write my stitch count as I tatted this, so now I can go back and change lengths of chains as needed. See how the arms look almost scalloped, the chains need to be a pinch shorter to the outside row, especially in the armpits. I think I want the arms a bit longer too, thinking maybe one up and the other down, will give it a shot both ways. The bottom is a scarf leaf, "bit on the hippy side there, sweetie", but goddesses had volumptious figures. I'd love to do the upper body with two circles, a feminine touch, hehehe. The poor girl will have to stay this way for the next week as I am finishing a knitting pattern this weekend or ELSE.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

2006-10-25T10:20:00.000-04:00

Look what I found in my tatting drawers, wooo hoooo boooo!!! Digging through threads looking for the perfect goddess color and found these pumpkins. They were designed and tatted several years ago, left in the drawer forgotten. My chicken scratched designs are in a folder somewhere ... out there..... I like the pumpkin more than Jack, but he was a quirky attempt at a one pass, no cuts in the orange thread jack o' lantern.

Motif 7

2006-10-20T19:24:00.000-04:00

See I have not forgotten how to tat, even though my blog looks to be more of a knitting site lately. This is from Mark's newest book and I have wanted to try this motif since I first saw it, it has been a long wait for me to get to check this book out of the guild library, and I'm the librarian. I think it looks pretty good for having about 15 threads to hide and NO Mark did not write it that way, that was my problem. I started tatting with the yellow and it was all in pieces, but I kept tatting until I ran out. So then I hunted for something that looked ok with the yellow and low and behold it also was in small pieces. Yep, I continued tatting anywho. I'm wishing I had not made the picots to the outside of the yellow rings so small as the gold half rings overlap, my boggle again. Not sure why the rings only motifs fascinate me, something in the simplicity of the rings only process that still allows for infinite complex variations.

Magic

2006-10-19T18:04:00.000-04:00

Yea, I have finished one of my Christmas projects. It's so much fun to knit with over sized needles and see quick results, then the magic happens, toss in the washer with jeans and three cycles later, taaadaaa. The before and after really shows off the size change, the strap seems to have shrunk to just the right length, whewww, it's always a quesstimate.
Felting a knit project is like openning a gift, you never are sure how it's going to look, how will the fancy threads felt into the wool, which color will suddenly pop, or which just disappears. This one was a nice surprise, but it might need a fuzz hair cut if the new owner is too conservative for the fuzz do, hehe.

Needle Felting

2006-10-13T12:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday the thirteenth!!!

Last night I went to a fun needle felting class, see my mister jack o'lantern. I'm thinking he may need one more tooth, maybe. It is so much fun to take a handful of color fluff and watch it become. It can become what ever you dream, it just takes patience
and a few sore pinkies, OUCH.

My tatting seems to have gone astray for the time being, I so want to get back to it, but other commitments are calling. The stuff we promise people for Christmas. How many projects do you have to finish for Christmas? It starts Simply as a good happy thought of I will joyfully create this for ______ (fill in the blank) because they admired my other one. And it all goes down hill from there, add a couple more projects, let the time tick away and soon enough it isn't such a happy joyful project, it has become a "I must get this done". Where did it go wrong? My list: two knit felted purses, spiral knitted scarfs and patterns, so much fun normally but I've let them slip to the dark side and become "I must get this done" objects.
This weeks goal--- start them and enjoy the process!!!
Or Else!!!!
hehehe

Colors

2006-10-06T19:21:00.000-04:00

I have been wrestling with the black dog this last week. Everyone has their grey days occasionally, when the world seems an unfriendly scary place to live. Colors affect us more than we realize, it is hard to stay angry, sad, or in a dark mood when surrounded by a woods of vibrant fall leaves. This week I have soothed the dog with beautiful colors. Spinning the hand dyed merino into a pile of raspberry orange sherbert, made my problems seem far away. I am almost done with the second skein, then they will need the twist set. The decision must then be made, what shall it become?, at around 600 yds, sock weight, it is not enough for a sweater, but maybe a shrug, a loose knit poncho, a shawl, how about a hat, mittens and scarf set, a lace baby blanket. I'm leaning towards a shrug, but the idea must fully mature.

It's a Sweater

2006-09-27T16:33:00.000-04:00

All my hiding from the real world in my knitting has produced a sweater. Woohooo my first sweater and it actually fits. Yea, it is soooo stinkin pink, under the flourecent store lights I thought it looked almost salmon to pinkish, but it is very very pink. At least it's not pepto pink or barbie pink, yuck gag. We all have favorite colors, and usually gravitate towards them when picking threads and yarns. But do you look good wearing your favorite color? I really am not a pink or purple fan, but I look nice in pinks, so I was brave and bought pink.

Weird Week

2006-09-26T22:10:00.000-04:00

I can finally get to my blog after having computer issues all week, sigh, it's amazing how frustrating the techy stuff can get when it's suppose to enrich our lives. Well not this week. This week is my weird week of too much to think about that I'd rather not, so I've buried myself into my knitting. An obsession to help me get past this odd period.

The chicken scratches on the back of a knitting pattern are a tatting idea, I haven't had the urge to design, really design a specific thing in forever, but after reading a blog entry from the Tatting Goddess, Gina, it just sort of hit me. I want to do a Goddess. I've already mentioned that I'm in a period of emotional and mental overload, so while I have faith in my God to get me through this, I also need a bit of a goddess to help me feel good about me, who I am, what I stand for, what my life is becoming. She does look like she is tattable, basic shapes, easy flowing lines. Really she might be more goddess like without the face and perky hair, hehehe. Well it's a start.

Socks

2006-09-20T09:28:00.000-04:00

Hand knit socks, I can remember just a year ago saying to myself and aloud, "Why would anyone take or waste the time to knit socks?" Next thing I knew, there I sat in a class to learn to knit socks, it was more of a I want to know why knitters do it and how to do it, than the wanting to have or make the socks.
WARNING
Sock knitting is addicting, and the sock yarn is just as bad. I'll never be able to walk through a yarn department again without fondling the stash and dreaming of socks in beautiful colors sliding off my needles. It is a craft much like the tatting, easily portable, the process itself soothing, and yet the variations of patterns keep the brain involved, interested, while others have no clue as to the hows or whys.
This pair went to my Mom for her 70th birthday. The yarn is trekking, a four ply that each ply varies through shades of blues, creating a constantly altering pattern that cannot be matched one sock to the other, fraternal instead of identical.

Found Treasure

2006-09-18T08:53:00.000-04:00

Amazing what treasures can be found in an antique store for almost nothing! This one is a beauty, the coarse fabric in the center, notice the fancy stitching over the hem, many of the chains are tatted in ruffled sets, all the picots perfectly even and laying straight, and such a wonderful design. My Mom says that I need to label my tatting or work from all my found treasures, as years down the road my daughters will not remember which ones I have tatted. Probably a good idea for many of us but how? Tags like the fair wouldn't do, I can get little hearts charms at the fiber store that say "made with love", maybe a fine ribbon, or a small beaded decoration on my work.
Hmmmmm.... Still needs some thought.

Too Lefty

2006-09-13T13:07:00.000-04:00

The TAT 2 button sampler is finally done with all buttons on the top and every flower in the right place. I struggled with this one and it is my left handed tatting to blame. I'm not sure why Grandma didn't just teach me right handed tatting, but forty years later I'm not going to change, the hands barely tolerate the tatting at all with the arthritis. Shuttle in left hand I make my way through patterns usually with little thought, visualizing the pattern flipped mentally, rarely needing to make any alterations as most tatting is symetrical. This little sampler surprised me but I eventually won the battle.

Knitting Again!

2006-09-12T19:15:00.000-04:00

This must be the month of finishing, this hasn't been unfinished long enough to get UFO status. It is knit in a cobweb weight mohair hand dyed on size 10 needles. A simple pattern, cast on loosely an even # of stitches, then k1, ( yo, k2tog) repeat to last stitch, k1, all rows are the same. Every stitch must be watched in the fine mohair, it's so easy to knit the fuzz only and later the stitch drops. The colors remind me of the portulaca flowers in my porch pots, yellow to salmon, lt. orange to pinks, and a touch of moss green, yummy.

Now I must get back to the TAT project!

Motif 6

2006-09-10T09:43:00.000-04:00

Ahhhhhh, tatting is so much better than cleanning, I did finish my mess yesterday before I tatted, it was a goal, finish sweeping then you can tat, fix that drawer then you can tat, wash that carpet spot then then then you can tat!!!!
Many of us do this,
please say you do,
I can't be the only one.

This is Mary Konior's Queen of Hearts form Tatting with Visual Patterns, with some variations, the point is longer because I was trying to recover from an ooops and I added the inside point to accentuate the shape. It is Sulky again, and yes it is easy to work with, it doesn't twist up as bad as some other threads for me. It is the same size as the DMC 12, close to a 50 I'd guess. If you tat this pattern, use two shuttles, it doesn't say so but I was shoe string tying more than I like with a shuttle and a ball.

Wrapped Up

2006-09-09T18:36:00.000-04:00

I finally finished the knitted wrap, yea!!!! It's knitted in two skeins of cherrytree hill super sock, very nice to work with. I always peeked at the cherrytree hill and told myself it was way too expensive, but it really is great yarn. Super sock seems to be the way to go for a gift that I know will get thrown into the washer with little thought. It appears complicated but not really, I even toted this one to knitting guild with only a few retro knits.

Ever have a day, week, year where you can't seem to get things to go right. Like I'm trying to reglue a dresser drawer today, manage to break a piece in the process of removing the old glue, bend every nail I try to hammer into the particle board, dang that stuff is hard, and make a mess all over the room with dry glue chunks. So now I'm sweeping, it needs it anyway with my zoo, so the animals are running stupid because of the sweeper and a cat has to leave two choke and barf presents, which the dog promptly cleans as best she can, gee thanks. Sweeping is not done, drawer is still drying, sort of, maybe, kind of, fixed, not, and I need to clean the carpet now. Hmmm maybe I should quit while I'm ahead?
Tatting should be safe, wink wink.

Speaking of Zoos, oldest daughter comes to visit every Friday, mom has scifi and it's stargate night with little sister. So she brings the ferret babies to visit "grandma", I'm not grandma to those weasels. Shelby wants to play with Simon and is always so excited to get company. Ever see a ferret snorkel? Yep that's what they do in the dog's water bowl, stick their front feet and head in the water, then sway the head back and forth in the bowl looking for what? only the ferrets know.

Motif 5

2006-09-04T16:09:00.000-04:00

This is Vickie Reynold's Black Magic Cross, an adaption from a Mary Konior design. It can be found at Georgia's site. This one doesn't have beads, I thought it might make it hard to use as a bookmark, I figure most crosses end up in a bible. Perhaps it needs a tassle, maybe, maybe not. It took longer than I expected but this is a really nice pattern, well worth the effort.

www.georgiaseitz.com/classes2001/magic.html

Fiber Therapy

2006-08-31T22:18:00.000-04:00

Too much stress in my life this week, so I've checked out for a few quiet hours to spin some silk the last few days. Our needlework may seem like a waste of time to many who don't understand but it serves a purpose beyond the beauty or usefullness of the items we create.

Shuttle Bag

2006-08-29T17:38:00.000-04:00

I have finished the shuttle bag project in the TAT proficiency, fully expecting this to be difficult I was pleasently surprised by how much fun it was to make. In order to get my spacing right I measured and marked on my finger with a permanent marker, so silly but worked great. Just might have to try a bigger project in mignonette stitch, Ben Filkert has a great doily, hmmm, what was that one called, I think it is in his newest book, fooo, I just can't remember. So now I am ready for my next TAT button sampler and can not find anywhere the button package.

Sitting on a hold pattern momentarily, so my brain has been conjuring all kinds of new UFO's to start. NOOOOO I really need to finish some of the many already in the works. Keep repeating, no new projects, no new projects.....

Yes, I started a new project, I compromised and picked up 1 ounce of hand painted pure tussah silk top to spin. I get a fiber fix without an unreachable goal or UFO I must feel guilty as it lays undone waiting. Spinning is the purist fiber fix I know, the soothing rythym, the tactile feel of the fibers, the colors as they slide through your fingers, changing from one to another. It's like meditation, quiet, calming, peaceful.

Garden Train Village

2006-08-28T10:21:00.000-04:00

Last night I was cleanning and repairing the houses from out of my lower garden, they are going to be sold for big bucks at a weekend garage sale, please please! The train station, water tower, and the country store are not in this picture, they are taking over the kitchen counters. My kitchen is so yucky now with 15 years worth of old leaves, dirt, cobwebs, and deads bugs. So I sat watching big brother and thinking how obnoxious is Will! and super glueing all the tiny pieces. Between the glue fumes and a Corona it's a wonder that the steeple isn't upside down, hehe. My fingers are covered in glue, at least they aren't stuck together.
EXTREME CLOSEUP!!!!!
Look a who came to help, isn't it just too funny, I'm surprised Shelby isn't a obgoblin in the photo.

Motif 4

2006-08-25T17:58:00.000-04:00

This is the large cross from the book Tatting With Visual Patterns, my favorite tatting book. It is tatted in sulky blendables size 12. I think I will be doing another of these as it is such a nice pattern, and this is already spoken for. My stash of give aways isn't growing yet, hmmmm. When I did this one I kept thing of making all four points the same length, add a few picots on the end ring, connect many together like squares, and make a table runner. The shape reminds me of the squares in the cathedral window quilt. The negatice space would be the same as the white on
the quilt between the colors.
So many possibilities,
so little time.

Celtic Motif

2006-08-24T10:07:00.000-04:00

Woohoooo I think I have a version of the Celtic motif that I'm happy with for the TAT. This is Jane's pattern and can be found at her web site. www.e.n.e.btinternet.co.uk/ It has been fun to do this with the same three colors every time but rotate the colors giving it a different look each time. FUN Thinking it would be nice to do a big piece with these and join them at the points, sort of like a flower garden quilt, each different. Hmmm maybe join them with bigger spaces between. Ok here's a pic of what I'm thinking, can't seem to say it, a picture is worth a thousand words. Knowing me I won't ever do this but wouldn't it be pretty?

Not Knots

2006-08-22T17:38:00.000-04:00

I have not been making knots, I've been making loops, this is a knitting alert!! The hands needed a rest and knitting seems to be gentler on the arthitis than tatting. It is going to be a shoulder wrap. It seems to always be a shawl, a scarf, a wrap, got to break out of this rut, but in the meantime it will be a wrap for my soon to be ex mother in law. The colors are my favorites, blues and greens, you can tell by my couch, matches nice huh?, but no I'm not keeping it, it's not staying, it's visiting. The pattern is Starburst Shawl from the book Modular Knits by Iris Schreier. The yarn is cherrytree hill super sock in moutain madness, more greens than the picture shows. Kind of an entralac pattern but it's a cheat because the stitches stay on the neddles all the time, fun but not to take to a knit-in or plan on taking out more than you knit.

My knitting weakness or boggle. I find beautiful yarns that I must have, so I buy one skein. Mistake Mistake Mistake....... So excited I start a project that clearly needs more than I have, so off I go looking for more. Do I ever take it with me and check the dyelots, well how much could it vary? IT CAN LOOK TOTALLY DIFFERENT! I'm a smart person but I can't seem to learn because I've done this before. See two balls attached to the wrap, One end is light, then it is a row of light and then a row of dark. Actually works well with this pattern, shows it off nice, and the other end will be darker. Shhhhh it was all an elaborate design plan.

Shelby managed to worm her way into my picture, her back is almost as tall as the couch cushion. Here she is with Jake, they are not best buds, the cat was simply too lazy to get up and move away from the little pest. They are an evenly matched set, 21 lbs each, no brains verses no claws, both big babies.

Motif 3

2006-08-20T14:41:00.000-04:00

I have finished motif #3!!!!! It turned out much bigger than I expected but it was well worth the work. This Hens & Chick Cross pattern is designed by Barbara Tozzano. It is really beautiful with it's classic hens and chicks. A nice all ring pattern, wind a shuttle, toss it in your purse, and anytime you need tatting therapy, there it is, simple to carry, simple to remember without the pattern. The pattern can be found www.fortunecity.com/victorian/vangogh/235/crosses/eliz2cross.html
I didn't follow the pattern exactly, almost but not exact, my lower secton of the cross is one pattern longer and the center has a slight change.
Following a pattern exactly is something I rarely do, must be weird, just seem to see things in a different way, it needs more or less stitches to lay better, or my errors become new versions. I guess this is the way the designing process comes to life for me. Not a rip off of someones pattern, but an inspiration to do something else with their thoughts as a start, an elaboration on a theme, or maybe a final product that doen't even resemble the starting point. Look at the center of the cross, would that not be a wonderful way to start an doily, different from the usual center ring with little rings around it. I'm facinated by the radiating lines created by the negative space, could it be done with 6 or 8 lines? It just wants, needs to be played with.

25 Motifs ?

2006-08-17T14:54:00.000-04:00

This morning was my guild's tat n chat. We mostly chatted and very little tatting. I came as the locksmith, Ruth needed a garage door locked changed out and rekeyed, mission accomplished. Every second of the work is well worth the smile on her face to have a garage door that works. I want to tat and now my hands are so black greasy that I think the white cross I've been working on will have to wait.

I've been thinking of joining the 25 motif challenge, might as well, I keep retatting the TAT artisan celtic motif because it just isn't quite right, picots too big, joins sloppy, slightly puckered. I will have my 25 motifs in just retats, haha. I'm using in your face colors because it is Jane's pattern and that's what she likes. Seriously though I'm thinking of joing the challenge, my give away stash is empty, so I though a few of the celtics, crosses, hearts, gotta have a few flutters, bookmarks, oh and some flakes or stars. I'm thinking I will use patterns off the net, show case some of the beautiful work so many tatters have generously shared. The picture will be motif 1 and 2. Ok I'm offical, I'm somebody!!!!.... better let Sharon know and make the link.

New Shuttles

2006-08-14T10:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I went to Art on the Commons, a art show in Kettering. So much wonderful art, I could have stayed all day and oogled. Diana Andra and William Schmidt were there with their Turn of the Century wood items, just beautiful! I picked up a new shuttle for me in dogwood with a hook and one for my daughter Sarah. I also could not resist the calling of the knitting needles, I had to get a set in rosewood, what is not to love about fine wood needlework tools, the grain, the smooth feel in your hands. There is nothing like a new toy to tat with! Diana's web site is www.Turn-of-the-Century.com , her shuttles don't click, they have slits for the thread to side through instead, a different look from the side, very nice to use.

A new shuttle begs to be used so I played with Wally's tat along pattern.
see her blog at http://tat-along.blogspot.com/ . It is almost the same stitch count as Wally's ,with lots of beads added. If I was to do it again I would use heavier thread.

my rings: 5-5 bead 2 bead, big bead, bead 2 bead 5 join to previous ring

chains: 2 bead 2 bead 2 three beads 2 two beads, big bead, two beads 2 three beads 2 bead 2 bead 2

(16ds total, 15 beads)

12 rings, 12 chains

Glow Tats

2006-08-13T17:27:00.000-04:00

This is a my first post, a test of the glow tats blogging system, do not look directly into the glow. I haven't a clue what I'm doing but I will figure this out as I go. Glow is just an odd version of my initials, Gail L Owens, I'm not sure when I picked up the nickname. Yep the L is for Lynne, the usual L middle name, more than half the family is a hidden middle Lynn of some variation. Tats is for tatting not the glow in the dark tatoos you find if you google glow-tats. I intend for this to be a sort of record of my tatting and other needlework, knitting, spinning, or even glow-needlepoint, just doesn't have the same ring as tats does it. A place to store pictures, patterns that get lost, written on scraps of paper and stuck in books, remembrances of items happily passed to new owners. It is so easy to forget what we have lovingly created and given away as gifts. Oooo look, I can add a photo, but I've forgotten my username already, duh. Ok the doily is from Tatted Fashion by Teiko Fujito. I gave this to my mom, it's tatted in sulky blendables size 12, nice thread. Enjoy the tats!