Another way to join

I've been using this alternative method of joining to clasps and findings for some time now but I hadn't thought to do a technique page until Sally asked me how I did it a few weeks ago. She then reminded me a couple of evening's ago that she might get stuck on it when I'm in America!!!

So, this page is really not for the rest of you but for Sally!!!!! Well, I suppose somebody else may be interested in it somewhere!!! Here's the link.

It's all about how to join to a clasp or finding but also having the option to add beads (or not, as you wish!!!) too.

Below is a pair of earrings that I did ages ago using this idea. You'll see the beads at the top of the earrings. In fact I think this pair is still in my Etsy shop which I'll be putting on vacation in a couple of week's time.

I'll be taking a lot of the items to Tat Days with me so if you want something  please let me know and I'll put it by for you in the vending room. Prices will be lower at Tat Days as there'll be no postage, Etsy charges or Paypal. So, let me know!!!

Back to baubling!!!

I'm still hooked on these baubles. This one is done in Lizbeth GirlyGirl which is a thread I love. 

I followed the pattern in the book adding beads to the rib threads but started with a split ring metal finding at the top.  I'm hoping/thinking that if I did a few of these they'd make a lovely dangly brooch for my rather dull black winter coat.  The coat needs replacing but I'd be very sorry to part with a good coat which, although looking a tad slightly the 'worse for wear' has nothing wrong with it.

So, I need to work more of these.  

Sequin decoration

For some reason that I can't fathom I decided to do this motif again a couple of weeks ago.  Found them lurking by the scanner - for once not under the scanner - they'd escaped and were 'resting' by the side.

Oh, I remember now - I wanted something to add to the hanging I made out of the geckos ............

Anyway it didn't work so now I've got two more 'bits' to chuck in my 'boxes of tat'!!!! Sheeeeesh, wish I could decide what to do with all the 'bits'!!!!

New EXCLUSIVE tatting club

Today I'm proud to announce a new and EXCLUSIVE tatting club. It will be named the 'Tatted Mouse Club'.  There is a tab at the top of this page (when I can get it to show properly) where the member's names will appear.  Here's the link.

To join you must submit one tatted mouse from the Houtz brother's book!!!

For those who have only got as far as doing baubles/bobbles from the book there will be a 'junior membership' which will then be upgraded to full membership once a mouse is submitted!

Why? Well cause I'm bonkers and don't see why others of a similar nature shouldn't join me in my 'bonkersness'!!!!

Another sailing boat

AND an apology.

First of all I'd like to point you to Maria's boat on the Tat It And See blog right here. This makes 96 sailing boats now arrived in the harbour.

Secondly I'd like to apologise to anybody who's made the windmill. There were a few hiccups with the pattern which (thanks to Pigmini) are now sorted. You can find her blog here if you want a good giggle.

Here's Maria's sailing boat for you to see today.

WHO can resist?

Well the addiction to the Houtz book continues!! I just CAN'T resist these little critters!!!

I was talking to another tatter who has (hopefully only temporarily) fallen by the wayside the other day. Not inspired to design or to even pick up shuttles. I suggested that the poor lost soul get a copy of this book and play with it. 

I don't know what it is about making the bobbles/baubles but they're relaxing and challenging at the same time. I sooooo wanted one in grey like the Houtz brothers have in their book. So, rather than start on another crazy idea I made this guy!!!

Gecko hanging finished

Well the top picture is where I was when I last showed you. Still mumbling over the additional flowers/leaves. 

In the end I made four more and those you can see on the finished hanging. It's now in the hall next to the front door. 

I'm hoping it'll 'settle down' as it hangs as it's got a sort of 'wobble' on it at the moment!!! If it doesn't I'll just add some weights to the bottom.

Well, as my late father would say in a VERY dull and boring voice - 'well, Sally, that's a good job done'!!!! No, in 97 years he never remembered my name!!!

More pictures of geckos!!

I am still pondering this task. I am still not sure if it needs more flowers on or not.

These decisions take time as I need to be sure before I completely finish the thing. There's also the 'getting bored with it' factor which stops progress too!!!!

What to do with geckos.

A trip around my geckos - part one!!!!

The gecko 'session' seems to be over for now!!! I finally decided to rescue them from 'the box' and make them into a hanging. 

As they're all different colours I wanted something very 'anonymous' for the background. I remembered that years and years ago I'd bought some hessian type fabric from Ikea and so found that in my stash. 

I started placing the geckos on that but it sort of 'killed' them dead. Then I remembered some gold diamond shaped netting that I'd bought for something else and which I'd not then used so got that out too. 

The shape of the hanging was easy to decide. Long and narrow. I decided to cut out a random shape to represent (sort of) a tree trunk for the geckos to run up and down. You can see some of them on these three pictures. All had to be stitched down (decided against glue or iron on web stuff) and that took hours and hours!!!

Windmill

Now for the story behind this windmill.  It's one of the patterns I submitted to Tat Days for their consideration. It wasn't accepted which is fine as I can give it to y'all (practicing for my trip with the local dialect) now. 

This little windmill is quite an easy tat and worked in just two parts. This reminds me of Dutch Delftware done in blue!!!! There you are, Riet. A pattern for you right there in The Netherlands.

Oh, I guess I'd better give you the link, eh? Well, here it is!!!!

Windmill 1

This is a design I've had lurking on my computer for months. There's a little story behind it but you'll have to read the next post to find out what that is!!!! 

The pattern is ready but I'm going to tease you for another day or two!!!!!

I love windmills.

There's a very old one near to us which I've been meaning to visit for years.  Here's the link to Chesterton Windmill.

Two more pages

After a hectic week last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I managed to update Gina's site over the weekend with two more of her patterns sent in by other tattters. Thanks to you all - you know who you are.  Here are the narcissus and  shamrocks which are now available here.

On Friday I had the great fortune to meet up with Kristen and Chris (her husband) who were passing through the town. What a lovely pair - pity I didn't take their photos but I do have her blog link to show you and I suggest you read it as it's a very interesting blog. It's called 'Tatting All Over The Place' which she seems to be achieving at a rapid rate!!!

It was a wonderful three days that I had last week and now this week it's back down to earth with a BUMP!!!!

Owch - mind the ancient head!!

Cabone experiment part two!!!

So, after the last experiment with using a loom band instead of a cabone ring here, I decided it was worth another go at another pattern!!! 

This time I chose this one as I've always liked it and it's relatively straightforward to make!!!!

It's quite frightening when I see the dates on designs and it's good to go back and re-visit them in case they need updating or 'repairing'!!!! 

Again the only 'difficulty' with using the loom bands is the same as before - you need to allow the join some laxative (no, I know that's not the right word!!) to let it move if necessary along the band. Now, what is the right word - DOH, gone again!!!

A bracelet

I've been very, very busy for the last couple of days so haven't posted. Bet you were glad of the break from my innate ramblings!!!!

Anyway - this is a bracelet I made for my Tasmanian friend who has been staying with us for the last two days. Here is the link to the pattern.

I hope to be back to 'normal' with another post tomorrow. Meanwhile I'll leave you with this 'interlude' post!!!!!!

Gina's patterns

A few weeks ago a friend approached me and suggested that I could use some of my web space to showcase Gina's patterns. I'm sure we'd discussed this before and I must've forgotten!!! My 'remembering' has never been very good and as I've got older it's become even more like a sieve!!!!!

So, she sent me the patterns that she'd saved from Gina's blog links before they stopped 'being there'.

For those of you who haven't heard of Gina before - she was a very dear friend to many, many of us and I had the pleasure of spending time with her on several occasions.  This wasn't easy to arrange as she lived in America and I'm in England!  Gina was a prolific crafter and tatter extraordinaire.  She shared her thoughts and work on her blog here. 

Sadly she died waaaaay too young just over two years ago. Even when she was going through the trials of chemo and radiation she kept her sense of humour and hope.  Just after she found out she was in remission she got pneumonia and the outcome was then sadly inevitable.

This is my tribute to her (with permission from her family) in the only way I know and in order to keep my very fond memories of her alive.  If anybody else has further Gina patterns I would happily add them to the site.

The picture is the only one either of us took when we last met in Cincinnati.  Sunflowers always remind me of her now.

Last post on the bag!!!

Now what to do with the loom bands that I made - easy answer!! Sew them onto the new jeans bag!!! 

I think they look OK but that'll have to do now as I'm bored with that game!!

Next bit of fun will be working out exactly what I'm going to do with all the geckos I've made!!! I know that I've got to do something with them or they'll be lurking in a box somewhere until I fall off my perch!!! 

So, first problem solved - what do I sew them on to!!! I found a lovely piece of linen fabric that's been lurking in my sewing stash for years and years. Now, what next? I'll be back with the next 'instalment'!!!!

Another loom band experiment!

So, having worked hard at getting the pattern up for the loom band motif which is here, I decided to try another pattern.

Ah, but meanwhile after a few comments from other people I decided to try a pattern that I did years ago that used cabone rings. I was curious to see if that worked too!!!! Well, much to my surprise it did!!! This is the pattern I used.

Now I must mention that tatting on a loom band has a slight added challenge to the process!!!! Well, not really a 'challenge' as such - more that you need to take a little care with the join. 

Joining to something that's 'wobbly' (I know the word should be 'flexible') and 'sticky' means that each join needs to have 'breathing space' so that it can be moved if required when the motif is finished. 

This isn't the best of scans - I did it in a bit of a hurry. Obviously it may be foolish to press a loom band so I've not tried. I'm going to thoroughly wet it and then use my favourite stiffening method - white glue squished in with my fingers!!!!!

Bag again

Today the front, flap and strap of the new bag.

I originally made the bag using the printed fabric but then decided it was 'too much' and then converted that into the lining. I love this print SOOOO much that it needed to be shown. The motifs were cut out of the same fabric and stitched on before putting the lining into the flap. The edging was added when the lining had been fitted.

Now there are spaces that need filling on the flap. Hmmmmmm, don't they just shout 'tatting' at you? Well, they do to me!! Wonder if the loom motifs will prove useful there - when I find out where I left them!!!

Quick post today!

Just a fast one today to let you know that number 95 has just arrived on the Tat It And See blog here. 

Also to nudge a few of you who may also have forgotten to send yours in too!!!!

While I'm nudging - I noticed that there were almost 90 people going to Tat Days too - still time to come and join us.

The answer!!

I nearly forgot to give you the answer to this question here!!!

A few were close and right with their guesses.

As you know I have a penchant for bags. Having them and making them! It's a sad disease but in my case - pretty cheap!!! Cheap as chips as 'they' say!! 

Here is a picture of the zipper pull on my new bag and a picture of the underneath of the flap. Why did I need a new bag? Well with my trip to Palmetto Tat Days looming up I needed something to cart my iPad, purse, passport etc around in when I get to America. I take a bigger bag as carry on but it's too big to carry with me all the time and doesn't have a shoulder strap either. This bag is made out of one leg of an old pair of jeans so it's REALLY cheap!!! More pictures when I've finished it!!!