The old bag lady strikes again!!!

While I've been teasing about the monkeys (don't forget to watch the index page for the next pattern) I've also been busy with the bags.

Below are some that are finished along with two further pink bags (Sherry, I've got yours put by, so don't worry!).

The pale blue one is covered with music notation. Also some musical references written on it too. As I've never been interested in the least in music I've no idea what it all means!!!

If anybody would like one of these bags please drop me a line on lovetotat @ gmail.com and I'll send you one!!!! Oh, you'll get an invoice from Paypal too!!!!

I doubt I'll list these in Etsy until I get back from America. I will be taking them to Palmetto tat days with me!!!

Ta de dah!!! Here they are!!!

First of all the rest of the guesses.

Sunela said:-
"I think it is a KANGAROO!! May be the MOM who is expecting."

Marty came up with this idea:-
"It can't be a soccer guy -- they don't wear hats. It's Archy the Cockroach, yes?"

Mark (Tatman) said:-
"With a black top hat(it appears) it could be Abraham Lincoln. Didn't he have tentacles????!!!!! I think all tatters should grow tentacles so that each pair of claws could hold a shuttle and tat. How else are we to get a lot of tatting done before we leave this earth??!!!! :-D "

So, those who were guessing 'naked' were right. Except for hair,/fur that is!!! May I introduce you to the Funky Monkey!!!!

I've also done a 'City Monkey' (notice the rolled up umbrella and bowler hat) and 'Lady Monkey' (hat and handbag).

I bet somebody can come up with other versions too!!!!

I hereby issue a challenge - 'dress a monkey'!!!! How's tat?

Now if you go to my web site you'll find something intriguing on the index page!! Down next to the link to the monkey pattern. Any further guesses?!?!?

Final day for guessing!!!

I think a lot of you have got there by now!!!

This is the final guessing day. Tomorrow I will reveal all (NO, not my naked body - don't want to frighten people off).

Some of the comments from yesterday and earlier!!

TatForFun said this:-

"How should should we wait until the picture's revealed? haaaa...I'm dying to see the whole picture...pleeease ^_^
But I think it's not a man or a boy...the color is to girly LOL
Is it a peacock? "

Gina D said this too:-

"Goodmorning. I've been following your hints and my guess is that it is a pink dragon. "

Valerie said:-

"me thinks it's something with tentacles... hmmm. "

Jenny's doing aerobics and says she's sticking her neck out!!!

"Ok I'll stick my neck out and say it is a mouse. Thanks for the fun"

Marty said this:-

Tentacles? How about a pink tree with waving branches? Nah, what ever it is it's not wearing nuthin'!

Tia's got another idea:-

"OOOOH A Jelly Fish?"

Jon has VERY good hearing!!!

"The picture is showing the tail of a rattle snake. I can almost hear it rattling. "

Day 7

I think you'll all 'get it' today but I'll wait and see!!!!

Carol Amich said yesterday:-

"I guess an octopus or squid!!"

Bev came up with this rhyme:-

Some see pink elephants,
some see a man,
some see what ever they can...
but I've stood on my head,
and spun around and all I got
was on the ground.
From down here, all I see..
isn't pink elephants; but a pink monkey....

Elizabeth said:-

"Looks like a chicken laying a bunch of eggs.LOL"

Tia said:-

"well....that could be a hand...if the picots had been in diffrent lengths....or it is antennae for a naked...Snail...Yup definatly going with Snail."

Jenny Griffin thinks this:-

"could it possibly be another ballerina?"

Day 6

I'm getting worried. Very, very worried. Seems to me that people think I'm a 'dirty old woman'!!!!

This is a remark that came in from Snowy:-

"Now with this new element I am alternating between pink elephant or naked man....scary thought! LOL "

Ginny's remark is fine - nothing to worry about there!!!:-

"Is it a Owl?"

Marty said:-

"Nah - it's a soccer player -- that's a leg! "

Jon said this:-

"I can see that it may be a pink elephant, but I don't know which part Snowy sees the naked man, ;-/, lol. "

Personally I think you're all mad, mad, mad!!! Then again it takes a mad woman to see/know a mad one!!!! Here's today's piece!!!

HOTP

That means Hot Off The Press!!!

Just had an email from Pat @ Roseground Supplies. They now stock the new Lizbeth thread. How COOOOOOOOL is that?!?!??? For prices and colours (the thread isn't listed yet) please contact Pat directly on pat @ roseground.com

Day 5

Today we have another part of the finished 'thingy'!!!

Yesterday Bev suggested this:-

"Could this be a critter that swings from trees? Do we get 20 questions? Animal? Vegetable? Mineral?"

Now how she could get to that from what she saw yesterday is puzzling to me!!!!!

Thelma says

"Is it maybe a tatted cross???"

Christine has come up with a good answer:-

"It has to be a pink elephant."

Day 4 - something different!

Now, just to confuse you and add to the tease I'm putting up the completed first part of this pattern.

This would be the first 'part' you would work if you chose to work it. BUT, here's the problem.

Have I shown this diagram the right way up?!?!? Of course it could be shown partly turned round or even upside down!!! That's the conundrum!!!

Yesterday Lynne said the following -

"A crinoline lady with tiered skirt, this is the bottom layer of the skirt and day 2 is the tier above it!!!! or shall I wait for the white coats!!!!!"

Lynne, I suggest you hold in there. Don't let them take you just yet!!!

I'm worried about Steph too. What sort of mind does she think I've got?! This is her suggestion:-

"I've got it!! It's a little naked man, isn't it? I just knew it!! ;)"

Day 3 of Tease a Tat

This is day 3. Things will get a bit more interesting tomorrow.

This remark from Eileen really tickled me. She said -
"I knew right away what it is. It's a caterpillar with sunburn, saw one in my garden yesterday. You know what they say........"ask a silly question" etc."

Do please remember I have a perverted sense of humour so things might not always seem the 'right way up'!!!!!!

Day 2 of Tease

OK, we have a clown in tat land!!! His name? Mark Myers!! This is what he says as a guess.

Um.....the goat I diagrammed for you???? strange color for a goat, anyway. But with you tatting it......WHO KNOWS!!! LOL!

He sent me a diagram of a goat two/three days ago with the challenge to make a pattern to fit it!!! I mean, dear Mark, you know what a busy person I am and how houseproud I am and how I'm always dusting and vacuuming. How did you expect me to get it done so quickly?

But then I do tell some terrible lies about my love of housework and I did have half an hour free the other day!!!!!!!!!!

HOT OFF THE PRESS
Just in case this has not been noticed in the comments section I have put the link from Laurie here

New game - Tease a Tat!!!!

Now this is how this one works!! IF anybody wants to have a go, that is!!!

I'm not asking you to do anything except guess what this pattern will finally be! I'll be posting little 'bits' of it either as scans of the finished item or as diagrams. If you're any good at jigsaw puzzles you should be able to copy and paste them together later to make up the item!!!

All you have to do is email me on love to tat @ gmail.com with your guesses.

I'll blog people's guesses and any drawings submitted too. Drawings can be a pencil drawing on the back of an envelope or - well, anything really.

Does this sound like fun or just downright stupid?!?!? As usual - answers on a postage stamp!!!

New in my shop!

I was going to start showing you the new patterns today but unfortunately I'm not quite ready just yet. Tomorrow. I'm hoping it'll be tomorrow.

The sewing machine has gone on holiday! Well, not really but it's going to have a rest for a few days!

I managed to finish off and list some of the bags yesterday.

Houston, I have a problem. I like them all but particularly the pink one followed closely by the butterfly one. I DON'T need another tatting bag, do I? But this is SUCH a useful bag!!!

I'm just going to have to keep one but not one of these as they're now in the shop. I do have 'spares' of each at the moment so I've got time to choose. Here are the new ones I've added.

One of my needle tatting adventures

Another piece from my old suitcase!!! Remember the small giraffe pattern on my site? Originally the giraffe was made as an earring to amuse the kids I was teaching. I then heard about needle tatting.

Goodness knows how I heard about it because it was in the days of stage coaches and the penny black stamps!! Well, not really but it was a long time ago.

I heard about Ed and Selma Morin's needle tatting book and took the enormous risk of putting dollars in an envelope and writing to America which was (in those days - the 1970's) somewhere over the other side of the moon.

I bought needles too. Not sure who I bought these things from but I did. So, having bought the needles I tried them out.

Oh, watch this space tomorrow. There will be news of the new patterns!!!!

Somewhere I've still got the ghastly (truly ghastly) needle tatted top I made. I was quite pleased with the giraffes but didn't like needle tatting one bit. I've never gone back to it even though some years later I bought finer needles.

Bags again!

This is one of the finished new bags. I must say I was very pleasantly surprised with these. The colour (which didn't show so well on yesterday's post) actually glows.

I'm also adding the fabrics I'm going to be working with next - pretty, pretty patterned one and the stunning pink.

Next set of bags!

Well the next set of bags will be paisley. This is such a pretty print and I already have one order for a bag!!! I cut them out and got a good start yesterday so may well finish them today. Below is a picture of a completed butterfly bag too.

The £%&$*" pattern is progressing well. What a relief. The new way of working is going well.

I also managed to take the mower for a walk round the garden. It enjoyed the experience. Mind our garden is a postage stamp size compared to the yards you see in America. I'll take a photo sometime and show you.

It's a real English garden, I guess, with walls on two sides. It's a very easy garden to manage and most of the stuff seems to grow in spite of me!!!

Yesterday saw the completion of the three other butterfly bags AND one matching poke proof pouch. One of the bags and the pouch have already been spoken for!!

I spent a little bit of time on the new set of patterns I'm working on. I'm hoping that they'll be ready to go soon!! I'm really excited about them all and can't wait to see what people say about them. There's still some work to do on the set as I've changed my mind about how to work part of them so I'm having to re-work them all AND alter drawings!!!

Also I have to add some fun bits to two parts as well. Just to keep me amused, of course!!!

Also because of this set of patterns I have made up a new technique page. It's one I've used before but never quite got round to putting a page together. Now who was that who said 'typical'?

One down - three to go!!!

What with housework, shopping and other boring stuff I didn't get much time to sew yesterday!! However I did manage one of the butterfly bags and I'm delighted with it. Hopefully I'll get the others done today (hmmmm, difficult typing with my fingers crossed!) and then I'll list them.

Oh, I noticed a few days ago that I'd got 100 followers. I mentioned this to Nick who said (rather dryly) 'one of those is the Inland Revenue'!!! Which reminds me - must do some more to my tax return!!!!

A rose by any other name!

Seems like I've put the aged and gnarled old foot in it!! Apparently the double double ds that Rhoda shows in her book turns out to have been published under the name of the balanced double stitch by Ruth Perry!!! If only Rhoda was contactable I'd have a word in her ear for causing me this bovver!!!

I'm adding this link here as it gives food for thought from a well known local chap!

Anyway to turn to nicer thoughts! I'm showing a picture here of some of the prettiest fabric in my stash (well, that's my opinion for today) and to let anybody know who's interested that I've cut four bags t of it. This piece (the leftover) is enough to make a matching poke proof pouch!!! I'm hoping to get to sew one or two of them today!!

I'm delighted that I've already sold three of the six bags I listed two days ago in my Etsy shop. I wasn't intending to list them as I was trying to make a batch to sell in the vending room at Palmetto to help towards the cost of flights. I think I'll just have to make more!!!!

More about the double double idea!

Yesterday I managed to squeeze in time to do this page explaining Rhoda Auld's idea. There's a picture at the bottom of the blog of what it eventually looks like.

I'm not sure it's going to be a lot of use but it's an interesting idea!!! Well, it interested me for a few hours! I'll be returning to Rhoda's book for another look now she's woken me up again!

I also managed to list two sets of coasters and the tatting bags in my Etsy store yesterday. It was another of those occasions when I'd finished listing and wandered off to do something else. I returned half an hour later and one of the bags had already sold.

I'm now wondering whether to use the butterfly fabric or a rather nice brownish paisley print that I've got. Mind there are so many it's very hard to choose out of my stash.

How did I get so much done when I was out all morning teaching Silver Surfers?

Ever heard of a 'double double' stitch?

Back in 1974 or 5 I bought Rhoda Auld's book "Tatting the Contemporary Art of Knotting with a Shuttle". I bought it for patterns, of course, as it was in the days of 'no tatting patterns'.

There are no patterns in the book BUT it's a mine of information and inspiration. I still take it out from time to time to just read for sheer enjoyment and whilst doing that the other day I came across the following paragraph.

I decided to play with this idea and found that it works well for chains too. I'll make up a technique page for it and maybe call it the 'double double' stitch (dds). Not that it really NEEDS a page as it's so simple and SO obvious!!!

This evening I'll play with it and show you what happens tomorrow. I was going to play yesterday evening but the latest project 'took over'!!!