A bit of advertising!!

First of all - tomorrow will be Day 2 of the TIAS.

OR, one could say - downright promotion of my 'stuff'!!!

I don't like pushing myself forward but I really would like to clear out my Etsy shop of the bags I've got left in my 'shop box'. Why? Well part of me wants to start another session of sewing when Spring comes and I need an almost empty shop to do that and part of me wants to be tidy and have them out of my way. Now, I must add that that is the smallest part - the wanting to be tidy!!!

I doubt there's going to ever be a chance of me achieving that as it hasn't happened in the last 73 years!!!

So what I'm asking is for you to take a trip over to my Etsy shop to see what I've got there.  If you let me know whether you'd like one (and which one) I will then 'reserve' you that bag and put it in the shop with a 'reserved' sticker on it.

Further progress

Isn't this pretty now? Well I think so but it will get even better before it's finished.  Still not had to cut or tie so that's even better. 

Working out how to do the chains and rings between the two petals was not that hard as they're 'thrown off' BUT getting the right thread amounts was!!! 

I have made a note of the quantities and the 'how to' on progressing down the righthand side of the petals for Heidi so that she may probably be able to include those in the reprint. I will certainly be keeping those notes so that I can work this pattern again.  It's a stonking great pattern.  Have I said that before about Dora's work?  If so then I'll say it again about ALL the patterns in the book - they're amazing.

We're OFF

This is the link for the first day of the TIAS.

Tomorrow

'They' (whoever they are) always say that 'tomorrow never comes' but I promise you that tomorrow will come and the first part of the Tat It And See will be launched in English, French and Dutch. 

Now, where will you find that link? Well it'll be here on this blog both in a regular post and it'll also be on the TIAS blog which you can find here. You will also be able to find all links on the left side bar too. The introduction is already there just in case you've mislaid it!!!

Please don't be shy of sending in any pictures, guesses or comments to either this email address or this email address. I find it too time consuming to troll all blogs and Facebook to find your work so would be grateful if you could send it to me as many, many people thrive and enjoy the hilarity of the comments.

I can assure you (this is aimed at Maureen) that this year you will NOT be making a rabbit!!!!

Still on crochet - but

Before I start - two days til the TIAS begins. I must make sure that both browsers are awake and working well before it starts!!! 

Why two browsers?   Well, one is for my regular gmail account (and blog) and that clashes with the account I use for the TIAS blog - which is a different email address and login.  It means that for the next few weeks I'm constantly jumping from one browser to the other!!!  I MAY lose weight with all the jumping!!!!

I'm really looking forward to meeting all my tatty friends through the coming weeks. 

After the little owl I decided to give critters a break but I MAY go back to mice again. Love those meeces to pieces!!!!

This time I've started on 'granny squares' - well, hexagonal ones!!!!

Change of plan!!!

No, you're not going colour blind!!! For some reason unbeknown to me (BC3 probably knows the answer) I gave up on the pink version of this Dora pattern a few weeks ago. I think I decided that it was going to be too hard but my lovely new internet friend (Heidi) sent me two pictures of Dora's original work that I could enlarge and study carefully. 

Thanks to this I was able to work out how the spiky bit was done. Actually Dora surprises me all the time as the pattern was actually perfectly written but BC3 just couldn't 'get it' for a while and without the pictures. Thanks a MILLION, Heidi. 

I think this was my third or forth attempt and many, many hours of puzzlement to get this far. 

There are more challenges to come with this pattern but I'm not giving up now!!!!

Now for an owl!!!!

As before - this little chap is made in size 10 thread. It's one of Marilee's HDT's although I'm not sure which. I very, very rarely use size 10 in tatting and this is just too gorgeous to not use. 

Owls MAY take over from mice - who knows!!!

Wake UP Jane!

I'm a dozy old moo. Here I am with a week to go and I've not yet issued a reminder that the Tat It And See starts next week.

Actually I suppose that's not too bad as I could call this a countdown to the start. 

Seven days to go.

Here's a link (which is now on both blogs) to the translation of the introduction in Dutch with many thanks to my dear friend Riet who is providing this service.  There is also a link for my French speaking (thank you, Julie) friends on both blogs too. 

I could put a picture on here of the finished piece but obviously I'm not going to spoil your fun. Instead I'm picking a random piece of tatting out of my photos.

Over run with the pesky things!

Do you remember these little guys? 

Well I made a few more. No idea why I'm doing them but I've learned something about BC3 while doing them. He DOES love fiddly fine things!! The big mouse made with wool just didn't satisfy me but the others made in size 10 crochet thread certainly did!!!! 

Am I bonkers?  Of course I am!!!

Off on another adventure!!!

This is, as you've probably guessed, another of the Dora Young patterns. 

Isn't it pretty? Well this is the first attempt on this one which maybe rather problematic. I've read and re-read the destructions but I can't fathom out one of the parts - although I can see how the whole pattern works in theory!!! Theory is a strange thing!!!!

I'll be back and will persist with this.

Sorted.

Well that wasn't too bad.  

Here it is sorted.  I'm much happier with it now!!!

I'm BACK!!!

That's a warning that trouble is back in Tat Land after a few days of doing very little except tat and crochet!!! Here are four of the Pinwheel motifs based on the first one I did right here - BUT

There's something wrong. Can you see what it is? It struck me immediately that I'd joined the final square wrong!!

So, back to the scissors and snip, snip, snip!!! Fortunately only most of the final round so it wasn't too bad. 

Now to put it right - back tomorrow (or whenever) with the amended square!!! I HOPE.

An invasion of mice!

This will be my last post until next week. Mainly because I'm feeling lazy and also partly because I really don't want to start showing you other things until after the festivities are over. 

I have, however, got these mice to show you.  Just couldn't resist this little pattern I found on the internet!!!  

I love making small quick things occasionally although my main love is to be stretched by the craft of tatting - either by designing or by trying to understand and work some of the older patterns.  Dora Young - you ROCK.

Hope you all have a good Christmas and don't eat or drink too much.  I'll be ignoring my own advice, I expect!!!

Another pinwheel

This is the same pattern as the one I showed you here.

Heidi Nakayama (the lady who is getting Dora's book re-printed next year) showed me her version of this design worked in two colours and my poor old BC3 was blown away. It was STUNNING. She taught it as a class and I bet the people who were in that class were also amazed to see how it worked in two colours.

In this pattern is a technique I've never seen before and one which I am currently exploring for myself. Dora certainly gave a LOT to Tat Land when she was designing. I'm in awe of the woman.

Another rabbit

Today I've got another rabbit to show you. This is from Geraldine who has combined her rabbit with - well, I'll let her tell you!!!!

"Got there at last, finish him today. He's feeding his carrot to Rudolf. I've made 56 Rudolf's this year for friends and family. Merry Christmas."

Thank you, Geraldine - just in time for the next TIAS!!!!

Here's the link to the post on the TIAS blog.

Just when I thought it was all over

I found another pattern lurking on the computer. This time it's a Flipje. 

Now WHAT is a Flipje I hear you ask!!! Well this next link will explain it all. I hope you can translate it via your browser. I've got a google plugin on my browser that allows me to translate most pages to English so I'm hoping you can too. It's an interesting read. 

You'll see from the date at the top of the pattern that this was done a while ago! I'm not sure who asked for it but I know I'd never heard of a Flipje until then. 

This is one of the reasons I LOVE Tat Land. I learn all the time.

Pinwheel

This is another of the patterns from Dora's book. It's called the Pinwheel. I've been working on this for a few weeks but didn't have time to show you until now. 

It's a pretty straightforward pattern to follow and to work BUT it does have an intriguing technique that I'd not met before. 

Be assured - you'll be seeing more of this technique if I can get BC3 to work on the idea!!!!  I can 'see' myself using it in something I'm quietly looking into designing and between starting yet another pattern from 'the' book.

I have had one or two people ask for copies of the patterns but, as I've explained, I can't share as the book is under copyright to Dora's family and I wouldn't dream of breaking copyright laws.  

Yet another!!!

Not so bad this time as it's only been forgotten for a while!! 

Today's pattern is based on this original diamond that I made for a patchwork type theme some years ago. A little adaptation and it's become a matching pendant and bracelet set. Obviously this would also work for earrings too!!!

I think my backlog is now clear but you never know what I'll find somewhere on my computer!!!!

Here's the link for this pattern.

Another missing pattern and thoughts .....

It wasn't until I got a comment on the TIAS blog on Sunday that I realised that I'd never put the completed TIAS 2015 pattern up on the pattern page!!!

I'm hopeless I know. Finally it's here.

I also got thinking yesterday over a comment that Diane made on her blog about Facebook. It was interesting as a few weeks ago I stopped receiving any notifications from the tatting blogs on there. 

My main reason was because I found it so repetitious. Somebody would ask a question and people would answer. Everybody has different opinions and ideas and that's fine but it was the constant repetition of the same comments and opinions on the SAME thread because nobody read back through previous comments that really 'got' me. 

I also found I was beginning to spend very precious tatting time on skipping from comment to comment and seeing and hearing the same old things. I haven't 'left' any of the groups and am still available but I just don't get notifications. Actually I must admit I don't often go onto the site after I've posted a blog link in the mornings. I LOVE MY BLOG!!!

Finally the six point star

I've finished another Dora pattern (this one) which I'm really pleased with. Pigmini suggested doing it in two colours but by the time I got her suggestion it was well under way. 

I'm not sure it would work with two colours as the stars would get 'lost', I think. Can you see how cleverly Dora uses the chain sections to make the stars stand out? Those chains then become a design feature in themselves. 

I'm off on another pattern now and will start to show you that shortly. Are you getting bored with hearing about my adventures? If so then I'll just carry on quietly. There's no way I can give up working on this book just yet. I'm making notes as I go along too as a reminder for myself and they may come in useful for others too.