Some Christmas presents...

These are a few of the Christmas presents that I have been working on. The two cardinal pictures are slightly different, but I like both of them. The snowman turned out really cute...The pattern for the body of the snowman was in a book that I have, the rest was my own design!

Now for some slippers...

Of course, with a warm head, warm neck, and warm hands...you have to have warm feet! Today, I made Lucy some slippers...out of fleece! She wore them and so far, hasn't tried to take them off! LOL

Hat, Scarf, Mitten Set...I made for my Daughter!

Here is the fleece winter set that I made for my daughter...Isn't it cute???

I am so proud of myself!

Tatting with beads!

Let me first say, the craft fair was a huge flop! All the vendors had trouble! Everyone packed up early and went home...no one was buying!

I also wanted to share that I have learned to tat with beads! WOOHOO! I am so excited! Here are a few pics of my work!

These snowflakes are going to be given as a Christmas gift in this frame--like this...

I am pretty excited about these...I am going to make a couple more like it for other gifts. It was easy and handmade (and inexpensive--the frame was $3.00--hey we are broke! LOL)...

All the snowflakes were made with size 80 white DMC thread and the beads are Mill Hill glass beads.

Taggie Loveys....

My daughter's therapist's mom (got that? LOL) made Lucy a taggie blanket to love on...and she LOVES it! I decided to make some for an upcoming craft fair...

Here is my daughters...

and here is one that I made....



They are about 12x12 inches and have 20 tags around the edges....

More cards for my booth at the craft fair!

These are the next cards that I have made for the booth this fall... I haven't had much time to tat here lately...been busy! LOL! All patterns for these cards come from Tatting Collage by Lindsay Rogers.

This card was tatted with size 80 DMC and Majestic threads...I really like the cute clover flower!

Also done in size 80 DMC thread...don't like the bow, but like the flowers!

This is my work in progress! It is a grapevine...the brown is a plain crochet thread size 10...and the green is size 30 DMC Cebelia thread...If you can see the pencil marks on the card, that is where the grapes will be! LOL! This card design was pictured in the book...and I am making mine VERY similar to it! I still have 5 leaves left to do as well!

The perk is that I learned to tat chains with no rings to being with...I hadn't done that before these cards! LOL!

Greeting Cards...

In October, there is a craft fair that I am going to put some stuff in...to see if I can't make some money to support my hobby! LOL! I just started making stuff for it...and my first items are these cards...

I think they turned out cute (even though the pictures are lousy...still not a photographer! LOL!). I just don't know what to charge for them...I would LOVE it if people would post what they are willing to pay for them...I need a general idea... They are blank inside and the cards are 3 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches (approx).

Thanks!

An Amendment to my last post...

Okay, let me amend what I said in my last blog. After searching tatting as an interest (by clicking on tatting in my interest list), I looked at about 15-20 sites...most of which had no tatting content or even posts at all! NOT EVERY PAGE is tatting free...just the ones that I clicked on. I got frustrated with not finding any...

Since that time, I have found a FEW sites with actual tatting content...

That is all.

Disappointed by other craft blogs on this site...

I went through to look at other tatter's blogs...and most don't even have posts at all! I was curious to see what others have made...and couldn't find even ONE picture of tatting! Grr... So frustrating!

I am going to keep posting pics as I complete a project...you can count on me to have actual tatting on this page!

I got two new tatting books...

I placed an order with Handy Hands and ordered two new books (birthday present!!!)...and got them in the mail Monday. Of course, I had to try out some of the new patterns! One book is called Tatting Collage by Lindsay Rogers...It is filled with great mini tats! Here are the two patterns I tried:

I made two four leaf clovers (one for my husband) and a "Tattered Heart". The heart is harder than it looks! I can't wait to get started on another pattern! All three were made of DMC size 80 tatting thread...although the green in the heart is Majestic/HH size 80... For some reason, the purple DMC untwisted a lot while working with it...I've never had it do that. The green Majestic acted better than the last time I used it...Go figure!

The other book I received was Tatting Patterns and Designs by Gun Blomqvist and Elwy Persson. I like the patterns in it, but haven't made any of them yet.

Took a break from a doily...

I have been spending my time working on a white doily...and needed a color break! LOL!! So, I decided to make me a bookmark. I have made MANY of them before, but none for myself. This is the one I made!

It is made with peach and green DMC size 80 tatting thread. It is small and thin.

The pattern is Spring Flowers Bookmark by Julie Patterson. I found the pattern online at:

http://www.ringoftatters.org.uk/patterns/jpatterson/jp.html

Tatting Shuttles

No shuttle tatter would be complete without their shuttle collections! I am pleased and proud to share my few shuttles with everyone. If you can give me any details about ANY of them, feel free to post that in my comments!

These are my two wooden shuttles.

The top one is my David Reed Smith shuttle. It is made of Purpleheart and has a brass hook. I ordered it online. It tats well, and holds A LOT of thread!!!! Great for larger projects!

The second one, I found in an antique store. I know it is not an antique but it is one of my favorites to tat with! It holds a moderate amount of thread although it is a bit hard to wind because the openings are lined up close to the top of the shuttle. It is made of one solid piece of wood--including the center post!

These shuttles are ones that I have found in various antique stores.

The top one came from a store in Northern Illinois along I-70. It has one slightly open end. I haven't tatted with it yet, but it was my first find in an antique store! I was so proud that I bought it! I paid $10 for it.

The second shuttle came from an antique store in Paducah, KY. It was in with a bunch of sewing stuff and marked with the huge price of $2.50. Of course I bought it! LOL! I have seen this type of shuttle referred to as a pumpkinseed shuttle --due to it's shape and the raised center. I don't know if that is what they were called though.

The bottom shuttle came from an antique store in Benton, IL. I found it hiding in the back of a display case with a hairpin lace loom thingy (I don't know anything about hairpin lace! Sorry). It is kind of beat up and dirty looking....but I have tatted with it and it feels nice. I liked the feel of it and didn't mind paying $6.00 for it!

This is the treasure in my collection. It is the tatting shuttle that my great-grandmother used. My grandmother passed it to me recently. It means a lot to me to have this.

I do know that this is a Gloria shuttle made by the McCoy and Jones Co, of Chicago. They were made from approx 1928 to 1945. The smaller shuttles, which this one is, could come with or without the point. Mine has the point.

Some of my favorite tools

Every tatter has tools that they love and that help them to tat--these are a couple of mine!

These are my picot gauges. My step-dad made them for me out of brass. I have 8 of them in 1/8th inch increments. I use the 1/8th inch the most! They are very nice and a really handy! I have never seen another set made of brass before....they should last to pass down to my daughter!

This is my *pointy stick*. I originally bought it for my cross-stitching--and it is my favorite tool for that as well as tatting! It used to have a straight point on the other end, with an eye of a needle shaved down to make a *tweezer-like* end for hiding threads in cross-stitching. I never used that end so I removed it to keep from stabbing my hand with it!

My first doily

Here is a picture of the very first doily that I made. I used ecru crochet thread in size 10. I had a little trouble blocking it when I was done...first time to do that too. I know now how not to end up with pointy picots! LOL!

I really like this doily. It is the Blue Doily by Eileen Stafford. I found it on the internet as well. It was quick to work up and is great for a beginner! It gave me a real sense of accomplisment because I got it done so quickly!

Some of my Cross Stitching...

Well, while I am sharing my beginning tatting, I thought that I would throw in some of my good cross stitching! This is the Santa picture that I made back in 1998 to 1999. I put in well over 100 hours into it. It hangs on my wall year round. I am most proud of it! It's hard to see, but there are 100+ french knots around the edges of this...I now despise french knots...LOL! Not really, I just prefer to do them in much smaller numbers.

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This picture I made as a present for a Christmas gift exchange at work in 2004. The woman whose name I drew collects hummingbirds, hence the theme of the picture. I only have two pictures of this project--this being the best one. You'll note the reflection of my DH in the glass as he took the picture...

My first tattings...

These are a few pictures of my first tattings...please forgive the crudeness of them...I hadn't been doing it very long at all! I tried really hard to learn new things with them!

This was my first butterfly bookmark. The pattern is from the internet--here is the link to it: http://groups.msn.com/NeedleTattingTwo/fancywithbutterfly.msnw

I used size 20 white crochet thread and size 20 purple Cebelia thread. Forgive the shadows in the picture--I am a horrible photographer! LOL!

I really like tatting with the Cebelia thread. It seems to slide easily on the core thread and was pleasant to work with!

Okay, I'll explain the snowflake first! I was trying to learn how to make chains and as you can see, I wasn't very good at first! I believe that I have improved considerably since that time! The butterflies were my very first projects... No chains involved! The snowflake was made with size 20 crochet thread and the butterflies with size 10 variagated crochet thread. I don't know the brands because they aren't labeled!

I didn't really like tatting with the crochet thread. It seems to split and unwind easier than some of the other threads.

Setting up my blog

I decided to start a blog--just for things that I am crafting at the moment. My current passion is tatting...the art of making lace. I really enjoy it and love how dainty it looks when completed. It is so much fun to do--when I get the chance. With a busy one-year-old in the house...sometimes I dream more than do!