Martha's new book

Before I start today - I had a new pram arrive yesterday and it's now here on the TIAS blog.  Thanks, Monica.

Last week my copy of Martha's book arrived in the post.  

As one of her test tatters I'd already made three of the designs in there but I was DYING to have a go at the fairy called Frivolette, the Chinese dragon and the baby dragon too.  I really must recommend this book not only for the fantastic and unique designs in it but also for the clarity of the written patterns and diagrams.  Yes, you get both (pictures and text) from Martha which is how I like my patterns to be written too.  Mainly because they're SO much easier to follow than 'just diagrams'.  Here's the link to where to buy your copy of this 'must have' book.

All I need now is time as I'm currently trying to resolve another new pattern and finish off the TIAS (still re-jigging stitch counts etc).  

I went to Tat Days

Yes I DID!!  

I went there for a few minutes on Friday evening and I saw lots of my friends for a short while.  There was Joanie, Sandra, Randy (as in Houtz), JB, Anitra (of the owls), Nina (as in Libin), Pam, Shawna and loads more who passed by and waved.  WHAT a TREAT.

Joanie has an iPad and we did FaceTime which is like Skype.  It was great to be there if only for such a short time.  Working out time zones and then wondering who was on daylight saving is always a problem so Joanie emailed me a few minutes before so I could get ready.  

No, that doesn't mean I had to dash and put make up on (what IS that stuff?) or even comb my hair but it does mean that I needed to find a quiet place in the house to talk.

Oh, I also visited Bonnie's house on Wednesday (again using Joanie's iPad and FaceTime) for the pre-tat days meeting that a few of the gang have each year Sadly I couldn't stay for the ice cream (her own home made and MEGGA yummy) and even if I had it probably wouldn't have tasted very good via wi fi!!!  I adore Bonnie's ice cream.

Oh, before I forget, I'll be putting my Etsy shop on vacation on Wednesday as I'll be away from home for a week starting on Saturday.  If you want anything before I go away please make sure you pay the shop a visit.  Don't worry - I'll be back!!

The best laid

No, not eggs but plans.  The best laid plans of mice and men etc.  Well my excuse is that I'm not a mouse nor a man so I can break my own rules!!!

After Joanie's very kind gift I was prompted to put the beads away tidily.  Oh, did I say tidily?  Well I'm pretty good at tidying up but absolutely hopeless at keeping tidy so by now my bead stash was really untidy again.  This prompted another 'grand tidy up'!!!!

Having spent two afternoons (after my walk) on the floor in front of my tatting cupboard tidying up and sorting all my beads I realised that I certainly don't need anymore for a while.  Certainly not large 'feature' beads as I do have quite a few of those.  By that I mean ones like I used here and here.  I spoke firmly to BC3 and we reached an agreement that no more beads would be allowed in the house.

Well that lasted until yesterday when I went down to the open air market in town.  This week they had a charity stall and I really 'needed' to look on it 'just in case' there was anything that may be useful.  Now these charity stalls don't come round often and it's a VERY rare occasion when I find something that I can use so I thought it was safe to look.  

I found the top bracelet and was well chuffed and after buying other stuff I wandered home.  When I got back Nick reminded me I was supposed to get some meat from the 'meat man' so back I went and again was tempted back to the charity stall.  This time I found the necklace (second picture).  The third picture is of them both together.

Well now you know it wasn't safe to look AND BC3 was missing too!!!

A pair of earrings

I love earrings and I love making them to give away.  These will be off to their new owner today - IF I make it down the town, of course!!!

This is the pattern I used.  One of my favourites as it's got weight thanks to the beads and you can also play around with the beads too!!!  This time I actually stuck to the pattern!!!

Sometimes I make the side chains shorter and you can also do the same to the bottom long beaded picot too.  Lots of ideas to play with!!

Bob's yer uncle

Yawn, yawn, blah, blah!!!  I know you're bored with these beads but I'm not!!!  I know the Winsome pattern is fiddly but it doesn't worry me.  Actually I find a long necklace like this quite soothing to make.

Passes the time when I probably should be doing something less useful like concentrating on the rubbish on the telly!!!!!  So, there you have it - Bob's yer uncle - the final part of the trio.  

I suppose you want to see the set all together?  OK, here they are!

The rest of the goodies in the box.

OK, in the box from Joanie were other 'goodies' too.  I was intrigued when I first saw the needles (these are a different type of self threading needles which I've seen advertised but never found) and now I'll be able to 'test drive' them.  I ALWAYS sew in my ends as I go along and hope this will make life a lot easier.

Remember the hummingbird?  Why would I cut that up for beads when Joanie sent me all these wonderful Toho beads?  Can you see the two fans too?  I need those when I'm sitting in our 'office' as it gets rather stuffy in there.

The second picture down is bags of buttons.  I had to smile when I saw the note on the outer bag.  It says 'for Sally,if it makes it to her'!!!!  I posted it the following day so that I wouldn't lose it in the morass of this place we call home!!!

Finally the sewing kit.  I'll be taking that when I go on holiday in the future.  What a great idea.

Thank you so much, Joanie.  I'm a very happy tatter.

A box of goodies.

Now this (top picture) is what started my obsession with these solar 'inspired' toys.  When Sally and I first got into Joanie's car last year she had one EXACTLY like this on her dashboard.  That was it for me - love at first sight (please don't tell Nick!).  

Last Friday a box arrived at Chez Eborall which was full of surprises from Joanie.  I took the box into the 'office' (which is really a bedroom) to open it.  Nick was in the next room lying on the bed reading his paper.  He wondered what on earth was going on when there were hoots of laughter coming from me so I had to dash to him to show him my hula, hula girl!!!  She was the first thing I pulled out of the box and is very energetic too - tried to emulate her but failed dismally as my rather rotund belly wouldn't work properly!!!

Beneath is a hummingbird made entirely of beads.  I adore watching the hummers out of Joanie's window and this little red throated one is EXACTLY like those that visit her yard.  I had to smile at the little note on it saying that he wasn't to be demolished (I think the right terminology is 'bead extraction')!!!!!!  As IF I would do that to a hummingbird.

More box news soon - it doesn't end here!

Second lot of earrings!!

Don't forget - shuttles going live this evening at 8pm BST!!!!

So, after I'd made myself a pair of earrings, I decided that my friend (who had the bracelet) would probably like a pair too.  Here they are below.

Can't think of anything more to say today so I bet you're all breathing a sigh of relief!!!  Don't get too complacent - I'll be back talking more rubbish as soon as possible!!!  In fact I've got several more blog posts already lined up so don't worry - I'll be back on Monday.

Brown earwigs

Well, what do you do when you've got the bracelet?  Well, of  course you make a pair of earwigs to match!!!  Again this is the Winsome Drop pattern but this time I used fewer beads on the rings as I thought they'd look a bit better.

Oh, I guess I'd better make a pair for the friend with the bracelet.  DOH, when does it stop?!?!?

I also need to put some findings on before I go much further too or I'll not be able to hook them into the aged ears!!!!  

Oh, guess I could use a stapler to attach them to the ears?  No, too painful!!!

Please DO NOT

A sad weekend coming up the week after next (September 5th).  Well sad for me and for Sally too who had a 'taster' of the fun last year.  Why?  Well we're not going to Palmetto Tat Days this year.  I will be sitting here sulking and thinking of ALL the fun all my friends are having during that special weekend of the year.  This year is going to be their biggest ever in terms of people attending so even MORE fun and probably ice cream too!!!

There's the vending room, fantastic lessons, amazing teachers (thank goodness for the CD with all the patterns on which I'll be ordering) and the wonderful friendship, etc, etc.

BUT I am taking a meagre part in the fund raiser.  The organisers in this group do a fantastic job supporting tatters who would otherwise not be able to attend, by raising money for scholarships.

They do this with a lot of help from many people who make quilts to auction (too many for BC3 to remember) and then they auction the results at Tat Days.  Now what I DON'T want you to do is go to this link and put in a bid on ANY of the items in the drawing.  Oh, perhaps you want to see more of the quilts so you'd better go to this link too.

Why don't I want you to bid?  Well, because I WANT TO WIN!!!!  

Remember - DON'T go bidding on the fund raiser - well, unless you want to help raise loads of money for other tatters to attend next year.  Oh, I've added two of my favourites below but haven't decided which one I'm going to win!!!

More about the new shuttle.

Firstly here is a list of the shuttles which will go into the shop on Saturday

2 COCOBOLA ROSEWOOD $33.60 each

2 PURPLEHEART $32.70 each

2 EBONY $36.25

1 ZEBRANO $32.70 each

2 OREGAN MYRTLE $28.00 each

2 MAHONIA $33.60 each

2 AMERICAN BLACK WALNUT $28.00 each

2 CHERRY $28.00 each

2 LABURNAM $28.00

2 SEQUOIA $28.00 each

2 OAK $28.00 each

1 SILVER MAPLE $28.00 each

9 FLAT TEAK SHUTTLES $10.00 each

Below is a picture of the new flat shuttle which is oiled like the Pop A Bobbin ones. These are great for learning to tat and for working with beads.

I am not like my sister!

When Sally shows you things on her blog she does it properly.  She takes time and effort to ensure she gets really pretty photographs.  Me?  Well, have a look below!!!

The first picture is a shoe box.  No, Sally assures me she didn't buy a pair of shoes of this make - they are expensive but apparently very comfortable.  

The second picture shows what's inside the box - bet you still thought it was a pair of shoes!!!

The third picture is a new lot of shuttles all to be listed in my Etsy shop which is here.  As it is easier for me I'm listing these again on a Saturday.  This gives me a leisurely Sunday to sort and pack them all before mailing on the Monday.  So, at 20.00 hours British Summer Time these will be listed next Saturday.  I will show you a list tomorrow with a new flat shuttle too.

Brown bracelet 2

I saw my friend and gave her the bracelet that I showed you here.  Problem then was that I liked it so much that I decided I couldn't live without having one of my own!!!  So, off I went to make another bracelet but this time for MEEEEEE.  Here it is below.  

AND - just to prove it - I've added a picture of my friend's below.  

Now, what shall I do next?  Well back to the TIAS again, I think.  I've got to a sticky part so it's been put aside for a few days.

Once upon a time

Once upon a time somebody somewhere bought a long necklace consisting of brown stripy beads with tiny gold seed beads between each stripy one.  Now who it was is a complete mystery and where they bought the necklace is buried in the mists of time - BUT .........

One day an old git decided to wander round the charity shops in her town and visited one and spotted the aforementioned necklace.  No, she didn't buy it straight away because she told her BC3 that she had too many large beads still to play with.  A few days later she wandered back into the same shop to give them something that needed re-cycling and lo and behold, there was the same stripy necklace.  Temptation was too much and the beautiful necklace went home with her to be cleaned and cut!

Roll on a few months later and she was visiting a friend and enjoying a cup of tea in her kitchen when the friend said 'oh, what a pretty bracelet you're wearing'.  It was a blue Winsome Drop bracelet and the old git asked if she'd like one too.  Anyway, on returning home and diving into the tatting cupboard she remembered the stripy beads and this is what became of them.  

So, I give you a happy ending.  Well, not quite!!!!

Second attempt at Abbi's bow!

So, back to the 'drawing board' over Abbi's bow!!!  I explored my stash of threads and found what I thought was the 'right' colour.  

Here's bow number 2 with slightly longer 'tails'.  Why longer tails?  Because I can't read or count.

I've put the other pink bow below the new one so you can see the difference.  SOOOO many 'pinks' it's no wonder I needed another attempt to get the right one!!!

Why DO I do it?

I like to have an ongoing project during a designing phase that I can pick up and put down at any time (usually late evening) and which requires little to no thought.  This is one I've just finished which was started over a year ago to have something to do while I was in America last September.  Hmmmm, I hardly touched it as Sally and I were SOOO well looked after and entertained (plus the hummingbirds at Joanie's were a huge distraction) that I did very little on the travels.  So, the question is - WHY do I do it to myself?  

No, not the ongoing project bit but the fact that I choose to do so many hanky edgings.  

When I started tatting back in the fifties there was very little around that a budding teenager (crikey - I was one of those once!!) could make as patterns were few and far between.  All I really had available were the old Coats and Penelope leaflets.  A hanky edging was one of those things that was recommended as a starter's project as there weren't many motifs around.

Now, when you start tatting you're so slow that an edging like this must have put a lot of people off.  Yet here I am all those years later still doing them as a relaxing project!!!  How stupid is THAT?  Not only doing them but occasionally even designing them too!!!  This is the 'Oh, so Simple' one which you can find here.

Yes, I'm a lot faster now but I still get bored by them but can never leave a project unfinished so eventually rush to get them out of the way.

Now, what am I tempted to do for my next ongoing project?  You'll never guess but BC3 is already thinking of another hanky edging.  HELP!!!!  Where's the escape hatch?

Abbi's bow

When I had the second spell of grandchildren I had Abbi who is five going on fifteen!!!  One of the requests I had from her was for a bow to put on her dress!!  She told me it had to be pink and have beads on it so I decided that this was what I'd do.  The pattern is an old one and can be found here.

Well stupidly I didn't check with my daughter on why Abbi wanted this bow but after they'd received it she said she THOUGHT Abbi wanted it for a special new dress she's got for a wedding they're going to and that that dress is a salmon colour!!  DUH.  Back to the 'drawing board'!!!

More in the shop!

First of all - I've managed to put the rest of the Tatting Tidy pots into the Etsy shop over the weekend.

Apart from doing this (and numerous other odd jobs) I also had a new pram to put onto the Tat It And See blog too.  Here's the link to number 122!!

This blog may not be updated so often over the next few weeks as I struggle with the 2014 Tat It And See design.  Yes, there will be another in January!!!!  A little bird has told me that there may be another one before that but that's all I'm saying!!!  Actually I've already started one idea for 2014 but that's been scrapped as it may have proved too boring for everybody!!!!

Now, do I cut out more Tatting Tidy pots or retire from sewing for a while?  Decisions, decisions!!!

More Tatting Tidy pots

Now I have five more pots to put in my Etsy shop.   Hmmmm, well I have to sort out the photographs first, crop, re-size etc before I list them.  I'll start that this morning and hope to get a few up today.

I make the pots in batches.  I cut out a set and and then do the preparation in three 'stages'.  

First I iron the vilene onto the pockets (it's sticky backed) and also make sure that all the other pieces are ironed too.

Part two consists of sewing the heavy duty stiffening onto the denim bottoms and measuring all the pockets, pinning and sewing them down.  

Part three is when I make the handles and add the circular bottoms to the pocketed part and the plain lining to the denim reinforced inner bottom.

Finally I assemble the whole thing.  This is (naturally) the part I like best!!!  

Oh, you see the slight 'bulge' at the top of the pockets?  That's there to make them easier to use and stop shuttles etc 'bulging' into the inside.  Well, I know what I mean!!  I do know that it makes it harder to assemble them but who said life should be easy?!?!?

Jellyfish finished

Having got the test tat you saw yesterday done there were several more but  I'm not going to bore you with those.  None of them really satisfied me until I decided that MY jellyfish had to have eyes.  I know, I know that 'real' jellyfish don't have eyes but mine wanted them.  He told me so!!!  You see I'm a jellyfish whisperer!!!

Who am I kidding - I've never met a jellyfish and have no urge to do so.

The tentacles still eluded me for a while until suddenly brain cell 3 thought of a new idea.  Why not use beads in the lock chain?  So, here you have the 'final' jellyfish in Jane fashion with probably a new way to use lock chains and beads!!!  

The pattern?  Well, it's here.