Lifeways

I'm going to tell you and show you a LOT about this place today.  

It's the most amazing facility we have in the road as it has a HUGE garden which 'back in the day' (Shakespeare's time) was a farm.  Thankfully it's enclosed by houses which over the years have been built around it.  There is no vehicular access to the back which is a bonus in this day and age.

In the garden there are bee hives, orchards, chickens, a wildlife pond, a forest school and loads of peace and quiet right in the middle of Stratford.  I often take a drink down there in the summer to sit and relax even though we've got a garden of our own!!!  

I think the main asset of the place is the manager - James.  He's a 'one off'.  They (whoever 'they' are) broke the mould after they made him.  He's not just friendly he's so, so helpful and never fails to put himself out to give help when needed.  

Some time ago he showed our group (Needles and Neighbours) a wall hanging that another group he belongs to had made.  We asked him if he'd like one based on Lifeways and he said he'd love it.  He even made one square himself.  So this is what we did.  Each square is tiny - roughly 14 centimetres.  Here they all are - a veritable feast.  You'll recognise the house from the website.

The death of a project!

I bet you've all forgotten my waistcoat that I started back here and which progressed to here and here!

Well I did finish it and started looking around for buttons.  BUT I decided I totally didn't like it.  Not at all.  I love the colour of the yarn but part of it was the texture which was lovely and 'silky' (it's acrylic) but there was something about it that just didn't 'gel' with me so I took it along to my knitting group on the Friday morning and they gave me good advice - put it in the wardrobe!!  That's what I did for about three months.  

I cannot abide wasting money and that yarn kept calling to me to do something about it so last week I rescued the waistcoat from the wardrobe (I'd hidden it quite successfully) and unpicked it all.

I spent hours and HOURS on Ravelry trying to decide what to do with the yarn but in the end I thought that a scarf would be a good idea.  Then 'which pattern' was the next problem.  

In the end it was Sue who came to the rescue and she wrote down her pattern on a cigarette packet.  NO, not really but in the old days we used to scribble things down on them although I never smoked there was always somebody who'd got a cigarette packet.  Seriously Sue wrote me an email with a really great idea and that's the one I'm using as you can see.  

I've decided not to use the yarn with the white in as I think it's the white that put me off in the waistcoat.  I may use it in the 'middling' part of the scarf or in a hat or something.  It won't get wasted!

Rounds 13 and 14

Now I'm back on my home blog it's time  to catch you up to what is going on in my corner of Tat Land!!!

These are rounds 13 and 14 of the Dutch doily that I fell in love with.  My good friend Bev over in Australia is kindly test tatting my destructions at the moment.  Poor woman.  

It's an easy and quite fast tat if only the person writing and drawing it had the use of all of BC3!!  Unfortunately (but VERY fortunately for me) it's proved quite a nightmare for Bev.  Eventually it will find it's way onto my web site!!

EVEN more dangles

While the TIAS has been going on I decided I'd make a small start on next year's Christmas giveaways.  

Now I rarely use Christmas colours as I've found that people like to keep them dangling somewhere in the house all year round - just like me!!!!  So I used this old chestnut of a pattern and started!!!

Now this has given BC3 another 'good idea' so I'll be playing with that shortly too!!

Rounds 7 to 12

Of the Dutch doily.  Really pleased the way this is going although I did stumble somewhat on starting this round.  What fascinates me is the fact that I've managed to progress from round to round mostly without many split chains.  I'm hoping that any test tatter who might come forward will help me rectify any anomalies in the pattern.  

Meanwhile I'm thoroughly enjoying this experience.

Tat It And See starts today

Here we go.  

I'm publishing the day 1 link here but mostly it'll be easier to find the links on the actual TIAS blog.  So, here's the link to that blog.

I will still be posting progress on the Dutch doily on this blog when I have time and have something to show you.  There are no adverts on the TIAS blog so if you've time please click on those on this blog to keep the pattern pages going!!!

Another past TIAS.

Janet's mermaid

This is Janet's mermaid.  She kindly sent me the picture last week and I thought today was a good day to blog it as an added incentive to join in this year's TIAS.  

The mermaid was the result of 2018's game and was the last one I was ever going to do.   You can thank Covid for last year's and this year's as my voluntary work hasn't yet started again so I do have a bit more time on my hands!!!  Something good came out of the pandemic after all!!!

This is the last reminder as tomorrow we start!!!  Keep an eye on the TIAS blog here for the links which can be found at the top left of the screen.  Well, not that near the top!!!

Yes this is more serious!!

Don't forget that the TIAS starts on Wednesday.  For more details on the game please visit this link.  

Today I have further progress on the Dutch doily and have since found out that it's also been published in Spanish and Italian.  Now I'm not sure if I can ever let you have the instructions for this but will continue to research the publishers etc. 

Things might slow down now

Before I start today - don’t forget that next Wednesday is the start of the TIAS (Tat It And See).

Here are rounds 2 & 3 and I think things might just get a bit serious soon.  So far it's been pretty straightforward.  

I will be looking for an experienced test tatter at some point.  One who has two balls of thread in size 20 and who can check also that I've got my front side/back side instructions correct too!!!  Bit of an ask but my last test tatter who helped greatly with the other Dutch patterns has disappeared into the ether!!!  Please contact me via email if you feel you can commit to this challenge.

Round 1

From what was originally a square the shape has morphed into a circle.  Interesting and the beauty of it so far is that it lies flat!!!  Beautifully FLAT!!!

I think I can admit that I'm now seriously addicted to this challenge although sometimes I find the translation a little confusing!!!!

Off to a good start - I think!

Well this is the centre of the doily.  I've chosen a colour that I don't particularly like but I did check before I started that I'd got two balls - just in case I run out.

The doily looks HUGE so I didn't want to run out at all.

I start this project (like the other translations I've done) by scanning the pattern.  Thankfully I forced my brain to learn touch typing when I was 50 and this makes life  a LOT easier.  

I have Google translate on one side of my screen and the jpg of the text on the other side.  I also use 'markup' and make a line that I can move down the page on the jpg as I work otherwise I get into a real mess!!!  I don't speak Dutch so it can prove quite a challenge.

Then every so often I copy the translated text onto a blank copy of Pages.  I work in the cloud so that I can access the whole thing when I sit down eventually to try and work out what I need to do.  Each row is then re-written in 'Jane' so that I can understand what I'm doing.  This is not for the fainthearted!!! 

The doily I've chosen

Am I bonkers or am I bonkers?  No, you don't have to answer that.

This is the doily that I've chosen to translate and work up from this book.

What attracted me to this particular one is the swirly effect.  Can you see that it swirls in two different directions too.  I'm going to have to get BC3 out and polished up before I tackle this one!!!!  

As usual I will be re-writing this in 'Jane' and will try and find out who the designer is or rather, was.  If anybody can offer me a clue on this I'd be very, very grateful.

Sidetracked from being sidetracked!

Yes it happens regularly to me.

While I was looking for the Coats book I came across this Dutch book.  Now the cover design doesn’t appeal to me at all but there are some very interesting designs inside.  I found one that I particularly like so that may be another ongoing task for me.  No, that’s not quite the truth!! It WILL be another project!!!  Maybe one I’ll get underway during the TIAS as the one I like is a doily.  I’ll show you that shortly.

The Coats leaflet

Do you remember this post from last week?  Well that was going to be my task for over Christmas - to make a good start on it.  

I’ve chosen a size 40 Lizbeth thread and the first centre motif is now done.  

I have started a second but then I got sidetracked.  I know, it’s tedious but that’s what happens in the land of BC3!!!  I’ll show you what’s done that to me tomorrow.

Please note - I do NOT use a picot gauge in case anybody thinks I do.  They’d not been invented when I started tatting except probably (and I do mean ‘probably’) they were occasionally used for the occasional very large ones.

The squares have started

This is the progress on the new blanket which I'm making using this method.

During the search

During my search for the Coats leaflet I came across the following which I thought you might be interested in.

Please remember that this was before the internet and that I would've had to go to the bank to buy dollars and then wait anything up to three months to get these.  

So, what have I here?  I'd heard somewhere that there was a 'thing' called needle tatting so decided that I really needed to research and try it.  I had somehow found out about Ed and Selma Morin so wrote (along with bank notes) to them to buy the necessary equipment and their book (which is somewhere on my tidy bookshelves).

So, as I've mentioned in the past, I gave this new fangled idea a whirl.  I thought it was OK for yarn but was hopeless for thread so soon gave it up.  As you can probably see from the picture below - the needles in those packets don't appear to have been opened.  

I found even back then that trying to get a good tension using needles just hurt my hands too much.  Anyway, thought you'd like to see my bit of history!

Lots of leftovers

I still seem to have a lot of leftover odds and ends of yarn so I've started another of  the square blankets again.  I do like this method of joining as you knit as it means no ends to sew in or edges to sew up for that matter!!!  

I'm using the same idea as I used doing the tatted poncho in that I'm laying colour combinations together on the carpet and taking a picture so I know what goes where.  Well, that's the theory but who knows what tricks BC3 will play on me!!!!

Moaning Monday

Goodness knows how I manage to get through life with the way my brain works!!!  

Last week I wanted an 'easy to do' long term project that I could sit and do without too much thinking during the 'silly season'. 

I remembered a large doily pattern by Coats that I'd made around fifty years ago but I've no idea what happened to it - the doily, I mean.  I know my gran was impressed that I wanted to do it!!!  Anyway I'm not sure whether it lay flat or not.  I did start an even bigger one from an old House of White Birches leaflet many years after that which I know didn't lie flat and it got thrown away when it was already huge!!!  Nowadays I'd have made sure that I amended the stitch count so it wouldn't happen.

I digress and apologise.

So the search for this small Coats booklet started but it led to many things.  In the end we parted with all the cookery books we owned and other odds and ends of books too (the charity shop were VERY pleased to receive them) so now I have a huge area just for my tatting stuff.  It's truly wonderful.  

Now to the stupid part of this.  I DID find the leaflet and then realised that I'd already scanned all my Coats and Penelope booklets onto my computer!!!  Now how STOOOOOOOPID is that?

Answers on a postage stamp please!!!

Here's the doily pattern I was looking for.

Past TIAS games

One of the things I enjoy most is meeting up with old friends from previous games and I’m always pleased when they turn up again each year.  It’s also good to meet new people too.

One of the past participants is Patricia who always came up with some great suggestions and comments.

http://tattingtreasures.blogspot.com/2015/02/tias-2015_10.html 

http://tattingtreasures.blogspot.com/2016/02/tat-it-and-see-2016.html

http://tattingtreasures.blogspot.com/2017/02/tias.html

Red earrings

After the white teeny tiny snowflake earrings I decided to make myself a pair.  I do like dangly earrings so this time I added another snowflake beneath the first one.  As you can see I also added a large bead between the two parts.  

This took BC3 a few minutes to work out!!!  On the fifth ring of the upper flake I had to add a bead to the ring and hold it in place with a safety pin/paperclip and also remember when I finished that ring not to close it until I'd joined to the bead on ring 2.  Not rocket science but enough to stop BC3 from his afternoon nap!!!

The new clear PVA glue was used on these and I'm really pleased with them.  

TIAS announcement

Yes it's that time of the year again! Well it will be shortly. Time to announce another TIAS (Tat It And See).

All details are on the introduction which can be found here. Also in the document are links to the TIAS blog etc. Hope you can join the fun.

If anybody wants this in another format to translate into their own language then please contact me. I hope to see my Hungarian and Polish friends back and will happily help any others with getting the TIAS to as many people as possible.

Below are some of the past TIAS patterns.  I wonder what it will be in January 2022?

Another square project completed.

Well a few more afternoons and the seconds square is finished.

I added greenery to the pond itself and flowers at the bottom.  A dragonfly and two butterflies completed the scene.  I'm hoping to contribute more before the whole project is finished and, of course, I'll be showing you when it is.  

It's been amazing how different all the squares have turned out.  There's some stunning stitchery and great imagination has been used in all of them.  

An orange Ann Onnymouse

I had to make a mouse!!!  

Well I didn't 'have' to but a family member has been feeling a bit down in the dumps at times lately and her  cat is partial to mouse hunting and bringing them into the house - if she can!!!  We were discussing that and I showed her Ann and she loved the idea that this wasn't a 'live' mouse.

That was all I needed to encourage me to make one for her.   Why orange?  I asked what her favourite colour was and that's what she said!!

The pattern is here if you want it.  Free, of course.

White earrings

Remember these earrings I made for Abbi?  

Well I decided to make myself a pair - only longer.   Again I added a bead to the centre of both snowflakes and also one between the two parts.  

One day soon I'll write this down and make a page out of it but I need to check first to see if it's been done before.  Anybody seen them before?

Start of another square

A friend brought her ‘bare square’ back last Tuesday as she’d not got time to do one.  I jumped in and said I’d do it.  I must be mad.

I thought I’d do the pond that’s in the garden so as I’d got a few frog patterns on my site I thought I’d do them peering out of the water.  First I cut the pond shape out and crocheted the wall around it.  I then spent an afternoon trying to work a frog that would work (without a lower body) to be peeping out of the water.  That wasn’t easy so that’s when I stopped playing!!

After a couple of afternoons l had two frogs and the wall around the pond.

I cut a slit in the blue fabric and slotted the frog in, sewing the sides of the slit together again.

This was fiddly but I think eventually it'll look OK.  Time and patience will tell!!!

Monday moan

I've been robbed AGAIN.

It happens every year just before Christmas.

My daughter, husband and one of the kids came over on Saturday as it had been Abbi's birthday a few days before.  I should know better but I said to my SIL that he could choose a dangle for his Christmas tree and one for his mum too.  When I looked in the box after he'd gone it was a lot emptier than I expected!!!

Now I'll tell you a secret.  I LOVE that he likes the dangles so much that he takes more than one.  In fact if I set off early enough next year I'm going to make him lots and lots.  So since Saturday I've been making more dangles so I've got enough for my Tuesday and Friday groups to choose one each.  

My own kids were brought up with tatting being done all the time so I think they're burnt out with looking at it!!!!  

Thank you, SIL for making me so happy.

Ann Onnymouse sports a new hat

Well look at this snazzy Ann!!!  Dressed in her own hat too. 

Maureen sent this to me yesterday and with the following note

“We spent a lot of time in the fitting room, Mouse and I, and in the end the thing that worked was size 40 thread. Mouse is 20, but the hat in 20 looked ridiculously large.”

So if anybody wants a hat for their mouse they can find the Santa hat on this page.

Thanks, Maureen, for finding a hat for Ann!!!

Celebration Bell

This is a pattern which I did for my aborted Palmetto submission.  I called it a Celebration Bell as it was to be for their 20th Tat Days.  Sadly, due to Covid I've decided not to travel again next year.

It's a pretty simple pattern and the only thing I'd probably add to it is beads on the two outer lower rings.  I've also made the Josephine ring using this method which I find so much nicer than the original way.  Obviously it can be worked the original way but probably more half doubles would be required and, I suppose it could be turned into 'just' a ring.

There are also two versions.  Two colours or one colour.  In the single version there are no ends to sew in at all!!!  The two threads are used to hang the bell.

I've now added it to my pattern pages .

More dangles

This time I decided to change pattern after I'd done the top sequin one.  

I just love the look of bugle beads worked into a design like this.  All the difficult 'bit' is done after the first three rings are worked and half a chain!!  But, having said that you do need to keep an eye on the centre not twisting about when you join the next 3 or 4 chains!!!  They seem to have a life of their own those bugles!!!  

If you don't have bugles or don't like the ones you've got then you can use rice beads or several small seed beads (measuring up to the size of the bugle, obviously.

The pattern for this is here and you can see how it looks with seed beads here.

Teeny tiny snowflake earrings.

My granddaughter recently had her ears pierced (she was 14 yesterday) and I decided to make her a teeny tiny pair of earrings.  

These are simple rings of 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 but with beads added as you can see.  There are four at the top of each ring (3 on the outside and 1 on the core thread) and a bead in between each ring.  

In the very centre I've added a large bead.  Now I'm not sure if this has been documented anywhere but it's quite easy.  

As you're closing the second ring you add the large bead to the core thread keeping it close to the first double made of that ring.  Secure that large bead with a safety pin/paperclip so it doesn't escape and continue with rings 3 and 4.  On ring 5 you have to join to the large bead after you've made the ring (removing the pin/paperclip) and continue to close.  It's really simple but I can write/draw it up if you think it's worth it.

Stiffening tatting

Waaaay back in the dark ages when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was a primary school teacher I realised that there was one small perk to the job.  Glue!!!!  Back then I was making tatted earrings (it was that which set me off as a designer) to entice the reception children into school in the morning to 'see what teacher had in her ears'.  In fact I met a pupil last Thursday who remarked that I was still making them.  She was with her 13 year old daughter!!!!  

So I used to use the white PVA glue (as you know it takes a smidgen) to see if it would work as a stiffener.  It did and some 38 or so years later I still find it's my favourite stiffener.  

Well, that was until last week when I popped into The Works in town and spotted clear PVA glue.  Actually I am almost 'out' of the white stuff so this was my 'excuse' to buy myself a bottle.

I was totally amazed at the results (which I'll show you later in the week) as it was clear (and dried clear too) and the beads didn't stop sparkling at all.  Mind, I've never found beads were dulled by the white stuff as that does dry clear anyway.

It is different in another way though.  It gives a much stiffer finish.  I'm going to try it out on my snowflakes but the results on earrings are spectacular.  More later in the week.

Finished square

I finished the square for the Lifeways project.  This is depicting the Midsummer parties we have there each year.  

Each of the family is now stitched down along with the bunting.  In the bottom left corner is a squirrel and at the bottom right are two little hedgehogs - they all live in the garden.

One of the joys of sitting in the garden in the summer is the sight of the swifts (top right) zooming across to access the loft spaces in the houses along the road.  Sadly we don't get them but I love to hear them screeching as they head at full speed towards their nests.

In the evening the bats come out to feed over the garden (top left) and they're a joy to watch too.  I wanted to put in more but when I did it started to look too cluttered.  Knowing when to stop is always difficult!  With me it's usually knowing when to stop talking!!!

Finished leaves

I did start to put beads down the centre of one of the leaves but then decided it was 'overkill' and took them off!!!  

As they are able to twist and turn I thought it was daft to have them just down the one side so they're going to stay naked - except for the edges.  

This is one pattern where the reverse join is invaluable when turning around.  Here's a link on how to do that.

I'm not sure whether I'm happy with the placement of the leaves on the inner three but maybe I need to move the chain up a bit at the sides.  I'll wear it (probably) and see. 

Two giveaway dangles

I realised that I didn't have many dingle dangles left to give to people so decided that now would be a good time to put that right!!

I don't make Christmassy ones as I've realise that people like to hang them up in all sorts of places round the house and then like to leave them up all year.  Or am I just speaking for myself?!?!  Probably it's just me being lazy that I tend not to take things down to replace them.

So, which pattern to use?  In the end I thought I'd use this one.  Here are the first two.

There's a mouse in the house!

As it's getting towards the silly season I thought that the mouse pattern would be appropriate.  

I remembered this poem " T'was the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse." so that got BC3 thinking it would be a good idea to add her first to the pattern pages.  I've put a link to the whole poem on the first line with the explanation.  

This is Miss Anonymous and she can be found here.