A break from tatting animals!

Do you remember me telling you about my last visit to blood donor? Well, if you've forgotten or if you weren't watching I'll tell you briefly.

It was my 70th donation (which I'm very proud about) and I really, really want to make the 75th when I'll retire. Anyway I normally take along my tattting bag (now, of course it's a roly poly one!!) and sit and make butterflies while waiting my turn. The nurses sometimes come over to see what I'm up to and I give them one of the critters. The last time I was there I didn't have time to get my tatting out before I was called. I did the 'finger test' and again didn't wait long until I was called to give. As I lay there I had an odd feeling that I was being watched. Couldn't quite put my finger on it but it was 'odd'.

After I'd finished I went over for a cuppa tea and a biscuit and that feeling went. BUT when I got up to leave the church hall where all this happens, four nurses bore down on my from several directions!!! 'Are you the butterfly lady', one asked. Boy, was I relieved!!!! I got the butterflies out and handed them out!!

So I've decided that as they all seem to like the critters then I'd give them the 'hearts for Christmas' as the blood donor service has a heart for it's logo - see my tatted ones below. My next appointment is at the end of the month so I've got plenty of time to make them!!

A large, fat seahorse!

Now it's time for the first seahorse!!! I remember the whys and wherefores of this design which in itself is a miracle!!

It must have been about ten years ago (if not more!) when I was working for a software company as a temp. Actually I worked there for three years on a week by week basis.

Anyway, there were three young lads and two older 'bosses' who were the mainstay of the company. At one point they had a lot of work on so employed a subby (sub contractor) to install software and hardware. He came into my little office one morning and we were talking about building web sites as the young lads 'upstairs' had been telling me that I ought to do one (they did give me an idea of what the files should look like on the web site etc). I said to Neil that I was stuck for an idea for a new pattern and he suggested a seahorse. I will be forever grateful to this guy - wonder what happened to him - hope he's happy and got a permanent job now.

I also recall that my first attempts at publishing a web site were a bit 'ad hoc'!!! I actually 'met' Mark Myers at this time as he wrote to me and so sweetly told me what I was doing wrong. What a kind soul.

Yet another!

Am I boring you yet? The jacket itself is well on the way to completion although with a busy week ahead there's no guarantee that's going to happen in the near future.
I don't think I've got any words of wisdom today. Who was that I heard saying 'that'll be the day when you have'?
There seems to be some problem with my 'feed' and this blog. Goodness knows what's caused that or how and IF I can fix it - but I will reassure anybody who's interested that I'm here and still talking about my life spent tying knots!!!
Here's today's critter!!!!

Number 4 - tatted gooooooose

I was pleasantly surprised when I tatted this goose again. The last time would've been in 2003 when I first made up the pattern. It's actually quite easy to follow so I finished it quickly.

Down by the river there are many, many Canada geese (any Canadians reading this - please will you come and collect them?) and quite a few of the ornery geese. They are all rude and abusive and not like our gentle swans. I'm rambling again, sorrrryyyyy.

Anyway, here's the goose!!

Animal number 3

Well, here's number three!!! A giraffe!!! I'm also adding a swatch of the fabric I'm using. Yesterday afternoon I managed to find the table top, clear it and finish pinning out the pattern and cut it out.

I doubt I'll start sewing today as we had an impromptu family party yesterday evening and I'm feeling a 'little delicate' today!!! Serves me right!!!!

Memory problems!

Funny to find that other people have the same problems as me with remembering things - great idea, Carol!!!! I see I actually forgot to put the flamingo into yesterday's blog - told you my memory is bad, bad, bad!!! It gets worse when life gets stressful which it certainly is at the moment!!

So, the day before yesterday I pinned the pattern for my jacket on the fabric. Good stuff. All alterations included. Yesterday I decided to check it again and cut it out. Major problem there - it had gone missing!!! You wouldn't believe that in a relatively small house like this that an item could hide itself so well and so easily!!! In a disgruntled (with myself) frame of mind I wandered down the town. Nick found it while I was out but by then I'd gone off the idea of cutting out as I was tired -we'd been out all morning and it was now 3 o'clock in the afternoon with fading light!

When I DO eventually get it cut out I'll scan a piece and show you the colour but meantime - here's another animal to sew on when it's done!!!

Animal number 2

Hmmmm, just a thought but are the animals coming into Noah's Ark or what!!!

I'm working through my own animal designs first and so at the same time I'm checking the patterns for 'understandability' and mistakes yet again!!!

It's actually great to be sitting and 'just tatting' without having to make notes all the time as I go. The way I work is still with the laptop on my lap and a tab in my browser open with the pattern on. I then move the cursor down line by line as I work. Anything I find that I think needs changing I copy and paste into an email message and send it to myself to pick up in the morning. I know that I talk to myself most of the time (although Nick does pretend to listen) so emailing myself is just another symptom of old age and senility - I guess!!!!

I did manage to pin the pattern onto the fabric yesterday and hope to cut it out later today. I have had to add 2" to the length as it's only a 'just below the hip' length jacket and take off almost the same amount off the sleeves. I suffer from short arms!!!

Here's the flamingo.

New project for the winter!!

I bought myself some fabric yesterday. I'm going to make a jacket. I can't find another in the shops in the denim type weight I want so I'm going to make one. This one will be my zoo jacket and will be smothered in animals!!!

Why? Well, I'll be honest. The gecko jacket makes me lots of adult friends but I'm hoping the zoo one will find me some of the smaller kind. The kind I used to teach - roughly four to seven year olds. I do miss my tiddlers. It was them that got me started on designing so many, many years ago.

Anyway, I need something to take my mind off the hassles I'm suffering at the moment. Here's the first one into the zoo - a meercat!!!!

My new brooch

This brooch has been 'in the brain' for a few days now. Finally I found time for it (ably supported by brain cell # 3) to break out and become real!!!

I've been given quite a few little charms - the sort you have on bracelets - over the years and these are real little treasures. I decided that instead of putting them on a bracelet I'd add them to one of my brooches. Well, the ones I've used here! I have others which will eventually 'suffer' the same fate!!!

On a happier subject!!!

Look what arrived in the post yesterday. I really, really needed cheering up after a very difficult Friday - the results of which will be long reaching. Oh to be a tougher person and not such a great big softie.

Anyway, I digress - did I hear somebody say AGAIN?

The little packet on the left below arrived. Look what was in it. Two of the famous Teri Dusenbury turtles. The colours are amazing and the skill is unbelievable. When I showed them to Nick he couldn't believe that they were tatted either.

They are now living with the other three turtles that Teri sent me last year. Thank you SO much, Teri. These turtles will travel with me to all the tatting events I go to.

Now going back to my ramblings about selling tatting - how much would you be willing to pay for one of these dear little turtles? Each one is totally unique and I defy anybody to work out how Teri makes them. Mind, I haven't tried personally because I know full well I couldn't reproduce the quality of them - they are amazing. Each one has it's own personality too.

Shot in the foot?

I posted about my opinions on pricing of handmade goods and wondered what would happen. This post is simply an update.

Before I posted my last message on pricing I looked at my 'watchers' list on ebay. I noticed that there was 1 'watcher' on one item. Fine - not unusual at that stage of a listing (2 days into a 7 day auction/buy it now). For those who are not sellers on ebay I must explain that if you sell and somebody is interested they can 'watch' the progress of a listing to see what bids are being made and decide whether they want to bid (or not) in due course.

Anyway I did think that when I went back to look again about 48 hours after my blog posting that there might be a few more watchers - people who do what I often do - 'watch' items just to see 'who does what'. That's fine and as a seller too it's something I'm used to seeing and knowing it also doesn't mean the item will sell!!! Imagine my surprise when the 'watch' list hadn't changed. The visits counters vary between 11 and 64 so folks have 'dropped in', looked and gone away!!! The same happens in Etsy although you don't get a 'people watching' facility there (well, not that I've noticed!) but you do get a 'visits' counter.

So, what does it mean? Am I trying to sell something that nobody wants? Have I upset people by being honest about my pricing OR am I living in cloud cuckoo land by even trying?!?!?!? Other thoughts are that people might be busy, I might have listed in the wrong 'category' or that I'm too early for Christmas stuff!!!!!

The worst scenario is that it's just not what people want to buy!!!!!!! So, shot in the foot? Perhaps but it's been fun doing it!!! No pain though as I am thick skinned and simply a 'mad old git in the UK'!!!!!

What a difference a friend makes

As you know I was never happy with the dangly flower but thanks to Teri Dusenbury who wrote and made a suggestion, I've now changed my mind (and changed their 'stalks')!!!

What Teri suggested was bookmark hooks. I'd been searching for egg hangers but all I ever found were ones with bases. Obviously these were no good.

The only bookmark hooks I'd ever seen had little butterflies (enamelled, I think) on the ends and that was twenty years ago. So after Teri wrote I looked around and found this site in the UK and they had exactly the right ones.

Thanks, Teri. I'm VERY grateful. They've turned manky looking gifts into super ones.

Busy, busy, busy!!!

I've finally managed to squeeze in a few minutes to add some Christmas tree earrings and brooches to my ebay site. It will be interesting to see if anybody bids on these items as I've 'told it straight'.

I'm sick of people under valuing handmade goods. They would rather pay double the price for things which come off a production line! I work out my prices to try and make a bit of money but even as I've priced them on Ebay and Etsy I'm not anywhere near working for a minimum wage. I know my time is my own and that I choose to do this and don't have to make a living from it but I always feel mildly insulted about how I de-value myself in order to sell. However if I put craftsman's rates on my goods I know full well that I'd never sell a sausage. I would welcome any comments that you have on my ebay listings as that's where I've had my little 'say'!!!!

There - I've had my little 'rant' so now I'll climb back into my cave along with shuttles, threads and beads!!!!

Another tatted brooch!

I thought I'd do one for myself this time. Nick bought me a new winter coat last week and it's brown. This one will go on the coat.

The pattern is VERY simple and if anybody wants it please ask - here are a few split rings involved. The button is 1" in diameter and this would work for any button of that size with four holes.

I think that over the next few days I'm going to list some more Christmas tree brooches and earwigs but this time on Ebay. Not sure, though. I'll keep you posted!!!

I MIGHT, just MIGHT have another visit from brain cell # 3 and if that happens I'll be off on another idea for my Palmetto teaching submission. I had a postcard from him yesterday saying that he might 'drop in' for a cup of tea and a chat!!!!

Mother of Pearl brooch

Sherry's post on her MOP buttons reminded brain cell number 3 that a friend down the road had kindly given me a few to 'play' with ages ago so I dug them out!!! Here's the one I did for her.
So simple to do but I think it's quite pretty too. I wanted it to sort of 'cup' the button but not hide it in any way. This is the result with no 'ugly' threads covering it either. Note the blue beads which lie just on the edge although not attached in any way.

Final dangly flower!!!

This is the final one. Since this I've actually stiffened them all slightly and they do look a lot better. I MAY get to like them one day!!!

Tomorrow I'll have something different to show!!!

Now for a purplish one!

Again the pictures aren't too good. I blame the photographer and not the camera!!!

I've been thinking

I've been thinking. Now I know I do a lot of it but having so very few brain cells it's not easy and takes a lot out of my energy cells! I've been re-visiting a pattern that I put on my web site in 2005 and found it a tad confusing!

I don't think it's particularly difficult if people had been following me (and that DOES include me) from the beginning of my 'career' (or lack of) in designing.

What really amazes me is that in just 3 years my methods of writing patterns has changed so much. Let me explain.

First of all when I looked at this pattern I realised that there was no sign of notation for right/front side wrong/backside tatting. YIKES!!!

Do people REALLY want/need the notation in italics and red for front side/back side tatting? Tat is the question!!!! (sorry Bill Shakespeare).

Next thing I noticed was that all the beads were added to the threads before starting instead of adding as you go which could be done for a lot of the beads used in this pattern.

What I really, really want to know is if I should change the pattern or leave it 'as is'? I do find this way of adding beads so much easier - BUT do others? To quote a bit from the bard (again and with apologies) - 'to load or not to load tat is the question'?

This very much makes me (and the 3 best brain cells) realise that I will never be 'ready' to put a book together as I've got what many people have called it in the past - a butterfly brain. It flits from one idea to another always hoping it's going to do better!!!

Any and all comments are very welcome.

Not my best pictures!

I must warn you ahead that the pictures today are not the best I've ever taken. I can't seem to get the 3D ones quite right!! I'll try again tomorrow as my patience has gone home for the day!!

This is the dangly flower I was working on a couple of months ago. It actually looks a lot prettier in 'real life' than it does here. The small wooden 'vase' is one of three that I bought at a local craft fair and as you've now worked out - there will be two more flowers to make next!!!

Yesterday's adventure

As I'm not showing any tatting at the moment (I'm doing plenty but it's been 'assigned') I thought I'd ramble on a bit about the exciting life I lead. So here's all about yesterday's adventure.

In the UK we now have subsidised public transport for 'old gits' like we are now. So we've both got bus passes. We can travel anywhere within our county after nine thirty in the morning for free with these passes. We've got a car and both drive so normally would go either 'on the hoof' (on foot) or in the car.

Yesterday we caught a bus at the end of the road and went to a town eight miles away. We wandered round and found a 'real' pub. Not one that had been modernised but one that had been left alone for ever. We had lunch there, wandered round the town and caught the bus back. Unfortunately we made a bad decision and came back on the top of a double decker and as it went round a lot of the small villages we suffered from sea sickness by the time we got home!!!!

So, that's what we call an exciting day!!!!!!!

Tomorrow I hope to have some tatting to show!!