Another treat for you

Another treat from Martha. 

This is a button angel which I test tatted a week or so ago. A delightful tat too. I'm sure you're all dying to get your hands on Martha's new book but it'll be a while yet as there's so much work involved with putting a book together.

One of the toughest jobs must be putting up with ME as a test tatter!! There's very little to do with test tatting Martha's work as you can guess but concentration is essential as a tester. BC3 really has to turn off the rest of the world when he's at work.

Revised pattern finished.

I had to keep this back for a while so I could play with it a bit further!!! I do like to play!!!

This is the revised square pattern which is here and here.

I decided I wanted to know what it would look like if I used three colours of thread and so I've been playing as you can see!!!! It's thrown up some different patterns within the whole thing but I'd still like to experiment more with some SLT's!!!!! 

Anyway, before I forget - here's the link to the re-vamped pattern (no beads on this one) and you'll see that the original has seriously been consigned to the bin!!!! Now I've got to work on the beaded one!!!

Another!!!

Martha sent me a heart to test for her this time. 

What I LOVE about this design is that you get all the buttons onto the tatting within the first few elements. Why do I like this idea so much?

Well, I'll be honest. I go to the tatting cupboard and source the thread, beads (if required) and buttons needed for a project. Easy. I then take all back into the living room (a few steps away) and into 'tat corner'. Easy. So, what can go wrong with that? Well nothing, you'd think, but it invariably does.

How on EARTH 'things' can get lost when you know EXACTLY where you put them and you know darn well that they've not been moved. I swear I could lose my head if it was loose.

Nick knows what I'm like and often says (as I walk out of the front door) - beware of those big red things called buses!!!!

Something relaxing

In October I'm having a 'table' in a craft/artisan fair. 

This will only be a small one (table and fair!!!) as it's being held in an upstairs room at the local library (where I help teach silver surfers). I'm going to make several of these snowflakes as it's going to be quite close to the festive season. 

As we're a hundred yards away from Shakespeare's Birthplace we may get some footfall as long as we're well advertised. 

I'm not sure what this thread is but it's pretty sparkly. I'm sure it's not the Lizbeth metallic as it came in a box of wonderful odds and ends that I bought off Sue Hanson.

More coasters

These were finished before I was 'struck down' and I've just found the pictures on my phone!!!

Sadly I no longer 'own' them as a neighbour fell for them and insisted on buying the set of four off me. Bless her as that's an incentive to carry on. I no longer have enough of this cat fabric left to make more BUT I do have some scraps which I'm considering using for another project!!!

Being a 'war baby' (born towards the end in 1943) I never throw anything away and all the offcuts get used until the 'bitter end'. Remember the tatting bag I made?!?!?!? Here's the link to the small amount I finally had leftover!

A new book in the pipeline

Sometimes what you need to enable you to recover from something nasty is a challenge. One of the nicest things that could happen to me was that Martha Ess wrote to ask if I'd test tat this butterfly for her.

Now I LOVE Martha's work and test tatting for her is a real pleasure. She's working on a new book which will be tatting on buttons. I love using buttons in tatting too so this was a delight to get my 'teeth' into.  Sally is quite jealous when I've shown her what I'm up to as she loves buttons too.

One thing which she mentions in the introduction is a method of joining to the button that I'd not thought of so this is on my 'to do' list to add to the techniques pages. It really makes for a much sturdier join and I wish I'd thought of it before her!!!!!

I'm BACK.

Well, sort of!!! Just not used to being ill as it must be 20 or more years since it happened. Still, that's behind me now and it's a case of 'upwards and onwards'!!!

This is another rendition of this motif that I had done before I stopped blogging last week. 

If you remember - I'm currently working on a re-write of this pattern. You can see the motif (naked) here, but today I can show you the same little stinker with 'clothes' (aka beads) on. Of course there could be many variations on the use of colours but this is what I've done so far. Keep watching for further progress - or not!!!!

A new member of

The Exclusive Tatting Club

A couple of days ago Lou sent in her dear little mouse. Now it's taken me a few days to get to put it up in the Exclusive Tatting Club but it's there now. 

As a teaser I'm going to show you the picture but 'make' you go to the page to see what Lou says.

Blogging might be a bit intermittent for a while as I've not done a lot the last week except cough and not sleep. Now (hopefully) under control with antibiotics for a chest infection.  

It's OUT again

That's my sewing machine!!!! 

It's been in hibernation for a while as I've not known what I want to sew. Time is creeping on and I've got a table in an exhibition/sale in October so thought I'd better make some things to sell - that's if we get many customers, of course!!! 

The exhibition is going to be in the library in town which is a few steps away from Shakespeare's Birthplace so just MAY attract a few people if they know it's happening. 

This is the first of a set of four coasters that I'm making which I really love so has provided a good start to this foray with the machine.

Obviously I will be taking some 'tatty bits' to sell too but need some sewing things as well.  I've got a few tote bags (Japanese prints) which will go with me too.

CTB again!

Well as you know I'm going to consign this pattern to the bin shortly (CTB) so I thought I'd better get on with the re-write!!!!

I'd like you (if you've got time) to take a look and see what you think. To me it seems a lot clearer but then I'm living right on top of it so it's not possible to take an unbiased look.

I'm next going to try putting a few together to see what that brings out in the design and may try one or two with SLT's in to vary where the colours appear.

As promised yesterday!

I took the photos as promised yesterday and here they are.

The one on the left is the first square I did. That's using what the Tunisian crochet sites call 'simple stitch'. It gives a firm, dense fabric.

Having tried that one the yellow is a variation where I've pulled the thread through (as with the simple stitch) but then done a double crochet (English dc) and then carried on. 

This grew a lot faster but gave a looser fabric which is fine.

A new 'toy'

At one of the crafty groups I go to there was a lady called Jenny who had just bought herself a Tunisian crochet hook. 

I've often been tempted to try this type of crochet but could never quite see the point of it. Having seen the type of fabric it produces I was sorely tempted to have a go. So, off I went to try and find a hook.

No shops locally had them (not even the charity shops) so in the end I bought one off Ebay. Thus the adventure began. 

I decided that I needed a project to make BC3 more interested so have decided that a cushion cover would be a good idea. If that goes well then instead it might grow to something bigger - like the tatting I showed you yesterday!!! 

Actually this is my third square - I'll take photos in a minute of the other two to show you. I'm not sure what this stitch is called but I like the fact that the fabric is growing a lot faster than it does with the original 'simple stitch'.

In case you think I'd given up!!!

Do you remember my 'big' project with the diamond motifs? Well if not then here's a reminder of where I'd got to when I last blogged about it.

As you can tell from that post I was dithering about whether to continue or not but in the end the temptation of the threads and the possibilities got the better of me and off I went on another round. It's taken me roughly three months to get this next round on as I only work on it when I'm 'out and about' and not having to concentrate on what I'm doing. As you can imagine - I know this pattern off by heart by now!!!!

For this round I decided to use the same colours all the way round. I've used a variegated and plain together for both the inner part and the outer and they're all different. 

Again I'm now wondering if this is the end of the 'tale' or whether I may 'fill in' the outside to make it straighter or not. Time to sit and think and try out ideas for a while. 

Meantime (as you know) I am always up to other things too so that BC3 doesn't get bored!!!!

Simply STUNNING

Now I really, really, REALLY wish this was my idea and my execution but it's not. It may happen sometime in the future though that I'll get round to trying it myself. 

Thanks to Patti Duff and Heidi I do have the pattern and just need to settle BC3 down to give it a whirl. 

OK, I know I've worked the pattern before but not like Heidi has with two colours. This is her work which she's kindly allowed me to blog.

Now the pattern is on page 22 of Dora Young's 'All New Knotless Tatting'. So, where do you get the book from? Well from Heidi or any of your other tatting suppliers including Tatting and Design here in the UK. 

Having recently completed this in 'just one colour' I'm going to HAVE to do the same again in two!!!

Finally!!!!

I bet you're sick of hearing and seeing me fiddle around with this by now and have been put off actually making it!!! I can still see so many different colours in my stash that I could make this with but really need to get on with other things. 

Anyway, here's the link with thanks once more to Sue (Pigmini) for the name. I always struggle for names!!!

CTB

Now I bet you're wondering what that means!!! Well in this household it means 'consign to bin'!!! Simple, eh?

Now what do you think is going to be CTB'd? Well I'll show you. This. 

Why? Well I'm just not happy with it and if I was to be honest I've never really been happy with it. So I'm shortly going to take it off my site BUT I am going to replace it with a much better (I hope!) updated version.

With the new version I've tried and tried to get it to work in one pass but failed dismally!!! Still it'll certainly be a lot, lot better and a lot, lot squarer too, I hope.  

Just hope that BC3 will stick with it long enough to get it done!!! I'll do two versions - beaded and non beaded while I'm playing with it.

Cuff with clasps

Well in the end I decided to go with two clasps which will keep the bracelet from twisting round my wrist - well, that's if I wear it of course!!!

I did wear it for a couple of days and it really really works well. Not sure I like those clasps but as they do stay on the inside of the wrist that's fine by me. 

I'm very open to other suggestions if anybody has them. It's an ongoing problem knowing what clasps to use or make that look good and work well for an old git to put on easily. Comments on this problem will be very welcome. 

Back to playing

I'm getting there slowly with the Celtic Ferris Wheel pattern!!! I've got several things 'on the go' at the moment which are distracting me from actually finishing off this pattern. I do apologise.

I'll try and get it done over the next two days. It's the fiddling around laying it out on the page and then the various links etc that have to be done that's causing the 'problem'.

Well also that and the garden taking over a bit of my life!!!! I don't 'mind' gardening but I regard it as a chore rather than a pleasure but somebody's got to do it!!!

It's a BOY!

Bet you thought I'd given birth when you read the title of this blog post!!!!  Hardly feasible at the 'tender' age of 74½!!!  I'm back to knitting glove puppets again!!! This time it's a boy!!

Actually although I'm not that fond of knitting it's proving a good way to teach myself (and pick up speed) how to do continental knitting. 

As a crocheter this way of knitting makes a LOT more sense as the yarn is held in the left hand (like when you crochet) and is almost 'hooked' through the loops. 

I had a very dear friend called Irmgard many years ago who tried to teach me her continental way and I just didn't 'get' it but now thanks to Youtube I'm on a roll with it. I may EVEN start to like knitting in the end!!!!

Whoops!

I'd nearly forgotten to show you this!!!  I know you've seen two before but I keep going off on another tangent to play with something else that's new!!!

It's the new design I'm working on - when I remember!!! I'm a bit of a ditz when it comes to actually finishing off things and this pattern seems to be 'one of those' that I have a tendency to forget!!!! 

Maybe my next project should be to design a BC4 as I think I need more help with just getting things finished rather than flipperty jibberting from one idea to the next!!!!