Hallie’s Easter egg

Today I’ve got Hallie’s egg to show you.  It’s not often that people show me what they’ve made with my designs but it’s always VERY reassuring when they do as it shows I’m not really wasting my time and it also reminds me to look at them again to see if they need improving on.  This is what she had to say.

“Good morning, Jane,
I wanted to thank you for the bugle bead Easter Egg pattern (2019), and your technique sheet for simplified split chains. I'd looked at both previously and said, "No way!" 
But I recently sent in my T.A.T. Apprentice work, and felt up to another challenge. And to my delight, the beads weren't nearly as hard to deal with as I'd feared, and the simplified split chain method worked great.

Best wishes,
Hallie in Wisconsin
Keeping my fingers crossed that enough aliens show up to encourage you to let us have another TIAS treat next year!”

Yes I hope more aliens arrive too, Hallie!

Monday - not a moan!

Well I wish I’d managed to take some photos on Saturday when I went to the Gloucester Tatting Day organised by Linda Williams. 

I’m a real dumbie when it comes to going places in the car. I avoid driving as much as I can even though I’m not a bad driver. I just lack confidence but having sat nav does help. Anyway I arrived at Churchdown where the day was being held.

It was a lovely relaxing day and I sat next to Anne who was delightful. I didn’t get the names of everybody there which is typical of me. Even if I’d been told them I doubt they would’ve ‘stuck’ in BC3!!! 

There was a raffle (I won two very old shuttles) and a wonderful display including Janet’s gorgeous Christening gowns. The display gave me lots of inspiration and was good to see. There was going to be a workshop but to be honest I think we were all happy just to talk tatting!!! 

So, as I didn’t take any photos I’ll show you a photo I took last summer sometime!!

History repeats itself

Thankfully due to being a shuttle tatter for so many years I was able yet again to do a rapid repair of another broken washing line.  This is the last time it broke in January.  

Before you cynics say anything - it was the other end that broke this time as the tatting knots have held.  Another line has now been erected and my fingers are crossed that this will last for a good while!!!

Round 2

The start of this project is right back here as my wretched BC3 wandered off on other things - things like knitting!!!

So, back to the doily!

I can now reveal that it's Robin Perfetti's gorgeous Jan's Doily which is truly magnificent.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't destroy it for others as I try to make something equally as stunning. Robin's Etsy shop is here but it appears to be closed at the moment which is a shame.

I did tweak this round slightly as I don’t like big picots that others are later joined to.  Instead of the larger picot I substituted a very small one, two doubles and another small one instead.  It doesn’t detract from the design one bit but made it easier for my BC3 to tell my hands what to do without worrying about any picot gauges!!!

The hat finished

Well as we were destined to go through another really cold snap in the weather I decided to just knuckle down and get the hat finished.  It’s really hard to take a selfie of the top of the hat so I used the iron to model it too!!!  

It looks as if it’s very long but actually it sits well on my head.  

The visor part was easy to do and I had an empty milk carton (the plastic sort) which I cut up to make it stiff.  I did ‘cheat’ on the band which was needed to ‘hide’ the join and instead I crocheted that!!!!  

Jumper progress - again!

Further work has been done on the new jumper.  This is SUCH an interesting construction.  

I am now working on the back of the neck.  The needles show where I’ve got to as I’m constructing the shoulders (top, right of the photo).

  

85

That’s the number of aliens who’ve landed on earth. Here are the latest arrivals who all flew in on Saturday!!!

I must admit I was getting a bit worried as the numbers were so low for finished aliens and perhaps this might be down to the final part - the head. I know this was a hard part for some but my biggest concern now is the number of headless aliens roaming our planet earth without being able to enjoy the beautiful parts of our world.

So, please, please get in touch if you need help with your headless alien - I’m sure that the missing aliens would love to join the TIAS blog!!!

A start has been made

I've made a start on the new green jumper!!! I'm having to read the destructions VERY carefully as this is a totally new experience for me!!! 

First I made the left front shoulder and realised that I'd NO experience whatsoever with reading knitting charts!! A first and a challenge for BC3!! Before that, though there were short rows to add to the mix!!

Just got started and lo and behold I had to shape the front neck. Those few stitches were then put on a holding thread while I tootled off to start on the front right shoulder, short rows and again starting the cable off too. 

You can see on the picture below that I'm 'on the way' but it's a challenge.

Starting the hat!

Now I forgot to show you the hat I'm making the other day so here's a picture and the start of the project. Yes, more cables!!!

Here's the link to the pattern which is on Ravelry.

I need a warm hat with a brim so this seems to be the ideal project.  Jumper abandoned for a few days!!!

Another knitting project

Now this is a HUGE ball of yarn that was also in the freecycle pickup!!! That’s a Dreamlit shuttle sitting on top of it!! 

I need a new winter hat with a brim to protect my eyes so I looked around Ravelry but came up with nothing. Well, that’s what I’d started doing when a friend (thanks, Sue) sent me a pattern which is EXACTLY what I was starting to look for. So, when I’m not knitting the second green jumper, tatting a doily I’ll be getting on with the hat!!!

Now for something

A little different!!! Tatting!!

I don’t ‘use or do’ doilies but I LOVE making them - sometimes. I saw this pattern and simply HAD to make it. In fact a very good friend gifted it to me which was very sweet of her. I’ve done the centre but I’m not sure when I’ll get back to the rest - knitting calls!!!

Sample worked out

Here’s the sample I knitted to truly establish in my brain the size needles and size of garment required. I’m afraid this picture doesn’t do it justice but you’ll see later when I get going that this is going to be a really bright jumper!!!  I love the marbled effect of knitting the two yarns together.  

This is the pattern I’ve chosen - another humongous challenge, I think. All those CABLES!! What AM I thinking of?!?!

Life after the jumper!

Yes there is life after the green jumper and I’ll show you a picture of me wearing it at the end of this post.

I’m also going to show you the next project. This yarn was on a huge cone that I picked up from a freecycle advert on our local area freecycle network. Actually I answered an offer for fabric and in amongst that was this cone of bright green yarn.

I invited a neighbour round to help me sort out the fabric and she (thankfully) took some off my hands with most of the rest going to the Tuesday group we both belong to. Not long after Jo (neighbour) said she’d got a cone of the same colour yarn and would I like it. I took it as I wasn’t sure what the yardage would be on the first cone so wound all off both cones into balls. They are not the same colour as you’ll see BUT that’s not a problem as I now I had plenty for the next project. 

I then had to work out how to use it all and found that with both yarns together the gauge is that of double knitting yarn. Next thing to do is to find a double knitting yarn pattern. So, off I went to Ravelry. More another day!!!

Another alien

Excellent news - another alien arrived yesterday and is now on the TIAS blog. As I said to Susan who sent it in - I’m going to use it as a reminder to those who haven’t sent theirs in yet.  

At the moment we only have 77 and I like to get close to 100 before I make the effort to start on another TIAS design.  So, calling all aliens - would you care to join Susan’s over here and see if we can get to 100?  

Monday ‘sort of’ moan

This isn’t really a moan but it IS Monday and it’s what my BC3 does once a week - it thinks!!!  Yes once a week and for a few minutes!!  

So over the past few days I’ve ben thinking about onion rings.

Not long ago I spent time with Judith Connors (she lives the other side of the world to me!!) as she has a super way of doing really neat onion rings. Here’s the link to her way.

So when I decided to make a doily (more to come on that another day) with onion rings I thought it was a good opportunity to really practice this. 

WRONG!!! The onion rings in the pattern aren’t really onion rings. They look like them but they aren’t. I must admit I’d never thought of this before and I’ll also admit that it’s the way I used for the pig and the elephant but I’m now thinking they ought to be called 'mock' onion rings!  Why?  Well because the outside of this onion ring just ISN’T a ring - it’s a chain!!!  I know I’m stirring the pot a bit but does anybody else think that they ought to be called a MOR (mock onion ring)?

This is a blurry picture but you can see what I mean - not (to me) an onion ring but a ‘mock’ onion ring!

Jumper finished

I’ve been knitting! No shuttles while the TIAS was ongoing and definitely no designing either. I thought knitting would be relaxing but as my BC3 doesn’t ‘do boring’ very well I found this jumper.  It was a huge challenge. I’ve finished it now and have actually worn it too.  I bought it off Ravelry and it can be found here.  Least I hope this link will work.

It’s worked from the top down in 4ply yarn and it took me about 8 starts to ‘get’ the German short rows and the pattern straight and into my poor old BC3!!! Finally it’s done and I’m very pleased with it.  So were my wonderful new friends at the Friday knitting group who gave me wonderful advice and help.

Another message from Mary Jane!!!

This came from Mary Jane yesterday afternoon!!! I know the feeling about things 'going missing'. 

"Thank you for showing my heart and clown. Hope to find my sweatshirt with the Santa Claus on it. I moved to Santa Claus Indiana in 1992. Found your pattern put on sweatshirt wore to IOLO convention. Where? Can’t remember been too long ago. Before the clown."

Then later in the afternoon I got this message AND a picture of the missing sweatshirt!!

Well done for finding it Mary Jane!!!

Mary Jane’s clown

I’ve had a bit of a break from this blog whilst dealing with the Tat It And See. I then took last week off while getting my BC3 back into ‘back to boring’ mode!!!

The aliens from the TIAS are still slowly coming in and I’m hopeful that we’ll reach a hundred eventually. Once we’re near that I’ll start thinking of a new TIAS design for next January.

Meantime one of the bonuses of doing the TIAS is that people get in touch and sometimes we have a good old ‘natter’ on email. I find out too that people do actually use my patterns which is very reassuring and when they send them to me that makes my day. Mary Jane sent in her clown - the pattern is here and that cheered me up LOADS. 

Mind it was a bit frightening when I saw the date I did it - over 20 years ago. Where does the time go?

Debra’s Doris

Halfway through this year’s Tat It And See I had another arrival from Debra of her TIAS 2022!!! It’s never too late to send in a TIAS!!! Here is Doris done by Debra along with her comment.

I wanted to show you the birthday card I made using Doris the Dragon. My grandson will be 9 in March and he has decided to learn Japenese do I googled how to say happy birthday in Japanese. 

Further knitting progress!! - 2

It was weeks ago that I took this photo. I’m now well on the way to the finishing line but the TIAS has kept me busy so haven’t taken photos. I’ll wait until I’ve finished now as I don’t want to bore you any further!!!

Final day of the TIAS 2023

Today is the last day of the TIAS and the link is here.  

When you send in today’s final part could you mention where you come from and the thread you used, please?  It might also be interesting to see how you made the alien - shuttle or needle.  Thanks.

I will be slowly returning to this blog over the next few weeks as I find things to talk about.

Mary Jane’s heart

Mary Jane sent this little picture of the hear I uploaded a week or two ago and she said

“Jane. I just finished your heartLove it. So this is my valentine heart to me. Thanks for pattern

Mary Jane”

So glad you enjoyed it, Mary Jane. 

Day 13 ia now available

Here’s the link to the TIAS blog for day 13.  

This is the pnnultimate day of the TIAS 2023.

A new project - a doily

This is the centre of the new project.  I’m not going to tell you which pattern it is until I’ve done round one!!!

Day 12 now available

Day 12 is now available on the Tat It And See blog which can be found here.

Julie’s heart

Julie tatted the Dutch heart shortly after I published it on my pattern site here.

It gives me such a big buzz when people do that and tell me about it too. Thanks, Julie. This is what she said.

“I tatted your heart as a diversion awaiting day 8. It was a fun pattern. It reminds me of the fox bookmark from the tias a couple years ago. I have not done much Block tatting. I need to practice some more to improve the tensioning of my chains. Thank you for sharing the pattern.

Julie“

Day 11 now available

Day 11 is now available on the TIAS blog.

Day 11

Day 11 of the Tat It And See will be available tomorrow.  Meanwhile you will need to prepare for it by doing the following.  

Wind 2½ yards onto shuttle 1. Pull off another 1½ yards and wind CTM onto shuttle 2

Day 10 now available

DAY 10 OF THE TAT IT AND SEE IS NOW AVAILABLE ON THIS BLOG.

Day 9

Day 9 of the Tat It And See is now available here.

Jaycee’s heart

I launched this pattern on 23rd of January and was really, really surprised and mega pleased when Jacee wrote a couple of days later to show me her heart. 

She said this

Dear Jane,

It's 4th day of CNY and I'm free from those dreaded chores for a couple of days before the grand ushering of the Jade Heavenly King on the 9th day of CNY. I took this opportunity to tat your Dutch Heart and if not for the less than perfect long picot at the lower end, I would say I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out. Thanks so much for the make over of this vintage pattern and great fun to tat it in one 'hit'👏🏻

Hugs,

Jacee😘

This is one of the bonuses of doing the TIAS as it keeps me in touch with people from all over the world and I learn such a lot about different cultures, religions etc.  

Day 7 of the TIAS

Is now available on the Tat It And See blog here.

Knitting progress!

Now this project has been a NIGHTMARE for poor old BC3!! 

I think it’s a personality problem that I have but I don’t like doing something that is easy. I like a challenge in everything in my life. Not just crafting but all other areas too. 

Last Saturday I was asked by a neighbour if I could set up his smart television. I’d not done one before and told him so. Nonetheless I was prepared to try. It was sooooo easy and didn’t take long at all. 

Now this is pretty amazing when I tell you that I don’t even know how to switch ours on (or off etc)!!!! 

However this knitting project has really stretched me. I think I made 8 starts but now it’s going well. Fingers all crossed!!

Day 6 of the TIAS

Day 6 of the Tat It And See can be found here. 

The TIAS blog is here with all the links to the previous 5 days.

Dutch heart - finished

Finally I have a heart that I’m pleased with!!!  

It's all worked in one 'hit'.  You start and finish without any cuts and ties which is what I like to achieve in a design.  

Just in case anybody wants to make it - here's the link.

Day 5

Here is the link to day 5 of the TIAS.

Progress on the heart

Now you know me!!!  I do NOT like stops and starts in my patterns!!  I have NO problem whatsoever over adding new threads in or anything like that but I just like to do a project all in one ‘hit’!!!  These are some of the experiments on the heart which I showed you the other day!!

Day 4

Day 4 of the TIAS is now available here.  

How my brain works

One day I was browsing through an old Dutch book once more and spotted this edging.  I thought it looked like a heart but I didn’t like the fact that the chain heads all face the same way and I started to play!!!

More another day!!

Day 3

Today I’ve put up the link for DAY 3 of the TIAS blog.  Please visit the blog to find it.  

Day 2

Link to day 2 of the TIAS  

Please send any finished parts to the TIAS blog here.

Start of the TIAS

Here is the link to the start of the Tat It And See game.  

This blog may be quiet on and off if I’ve got nothing to say.  When the TIAS is operating my time is taken up with not only updating the TIAS blog but also with helping a few people.  I will be here and I do have a new heart to launch during the next week or so.

Tomorrow's the DAY

Well, day 1 of the Tat It And See!!!

This is a card that Janet made from a previous TIAS.  It's the medium sized mermaid which can be found on the TIAS blog in 2018.  

It's also on the pattern site as a 'whole' pattern too.

Moaning Monday - it IS about tatting!

TWO DAYS TO THE TIAS!  STARTS ON WEDNESDAY.

Tatting can be so useful as well as decorative.  Yesterday, here in the middle of England, it was a windy day - just right for getting the washing dry.  I filled the line up then went out for a while and when I came back glanced out at the back garden to discover that the washing was partly tangled up in the shrubbery.  The line had broken right at the shed.  

So out came some pliers (or something like that) and the offending ‘end bit’ that had broken was cut off.  I still had the chain part so joined the line to that.  Two tatted double stitches and (after a bit more cussing) I managed to get the line back up!!!  The story in pictures below!!

Bookmark

Don’t forget - the Tat It And See starts next Wednesday. Just saying in order to keep reminding MYSELF!!!!

Another bookmark was made.  I’ve now got five with my self imposed target of six well in sight!!!  I need this sort of pattern to work on when the knitting or designing gets too hard and I just want to relax.

If I do what others do - relax by sitting reading or watching telly then I promptly fall asleep!!!  The only way to relax for me is to keep my fingers busy!!

Knitting? Did somebody mention

Knitting?  

After the success of this jumper I thought I’d try another pattern.  The first one was done with double knitting yarn but this next time I decided I wanted to use 4 ply.  Am I MAD or am I MAD?

So off I set on my journey through Ravelry.  Well we all know how long that takes but I eventually found ‘just what I wanted’ right here.

Now I’ve always tried to stretch myself to do more and more complicated things but I think this was probably a ‘step too far’ this time.  

I think I started at the beginning of December but progress was dismal and disastrous!!!  I think I started about eight times.  As there are only four rib rows of knit one, purl one before the start of ‘German short rows’ it was really hard to unpick ‘just to the ribbing’.  Each time I’d pull out the rows and try and pick up after the four rows of rib and I failed time and time again.  I was about to go searching Ravelry for an alternative pattern when I thought I’d have ‘one more go’.  This turned out to be pretty successful.  

The main problem was that the pattern is condescend at the start and expands as the garment moves outwards towards the shoulders.  I think I’m now ‘on track’ to succeed eventually!!!

Happy New TIAS

Yes today is a global warning - not warming.  

I will be putting out several ‘warnings’ over the next week or so.  They will be about the start of this year’s TIAS on January 11th.  For those who are new to tatting or those who have been tatting forever this is a game in which I release parts of a new pattern every few days.  The introduction to the game can be found at the top left side of this blog.

Most of the fun is in seeing other people’s work (which they send to me and I add to the TIAS blog) and their guesses as to what the finished piece will be.  

The reason for the name ‘Tat It And See’ is that nobody knows what the end result is going to be!!!  Well, I know and my test tatters know but I’m not telling you their names either!!!

Please do try and join in.  Even new tatters should be able to take part and I add in additional help in the pattern and am also here to give further advice as needed.

All I ask is that if you put pictures of your piece on Facebook or elsewhere that you also send them to me for the blog.  Not everybody ‘does’ social media and I don’t have time to ‘harvest’ from other places.

The picture?  Well it’s one of the past TIAS patterns!!!

Beaver doodle

Well here he is in all his - well, I could say 'glory' but not sure that's the right phrase!!!  

It's amazing what you can get done when housework is calling.  My eyes are trained to not to even see dust let alone deal with it!!!

Two tiny penguins

Now you’ll have seen my origina penguin on my website and he’s been there for a few years alongside a beaver.  Last year I was playing with another wee penguin and hadn’t got him ready for the website.

Over the weekend I sorted the penguins out and they now both live here.

I’ll get the little beaver done today and he should be finished by tomorrow - fingers crossed!!!  

A Christmas card

A week or so ago I’d settled down for the afternoon and was getting on well with my knitting when my two friends from ‘round the corner’ texted to say meet up in M&S for a natter. 

Well who could resist. 

On the way home afterwards they took me into their house and gave me the THIS card. The back story is that I’d taken care of their laptops while they were away. Both computers were very old and they decided that it was now an end of life time for them. So they got out their hammers and started to trash them. 

What fun. 

As they were bashing them the keys started popping off so they put them to good use. 

I’m tickled pink by the card. It won’t get thrown out after Christmas.

The second bookmark

This is for the other little girl I mentioned yesterday.  

I have suddenly realised that my stash of bookmarks is sadly depleted.  I try to keep around half a dozen as little 'just because' gifts or even emergency birthday ones!!!  I think I'll be making more but need another pattern as two the same is quite enough for BC3.  He does like a little variety in his life!!!

Here's the pattern again.