Wednesday, September 14, 2011

WIP's and Future Ideas.....

I didn't expect to be posting this late in the week, but at least I'm finally doing it.

Last weekend was filled with fishing, crochet and a bit of tatting. The fishing part wasn't too bad, my 13 yo brought home a nice looking Humpy, which made a wonderful dinner!

Next, I've been working on a vintage doily pattern from Elizabeth Hiddleson. This was a find at a garage sale. I bought a box of crochet/tatting magazine that had a few loose patterns that someone had pulled from some older magazines. Want to guess what I paid for this box of treasures?...........25 cents. Can you believe it! Anyway the pattern is called "Yellow Rose Doily". However, I did the roses in red. I'm thinking that the finished doily might make a great starting point for the back of a vest....hmmm.



Next, I've also been re-learning to tat. Now this has shown me that I have a long ways to go with becoming proficient at this. I quickly made up a mini bookmark (see above) for practice, and then started on a bigger collar/necklace project (see below) and screwed up right away. It's hard to see, but I actually have too many picots on all but the first ring. Oh well, I will continue with it since I need the practice, and until the thread runs out. I definitely need to pay closer attention to the directions. Have I mentioned that I'm a needle tatter, but am going to learn to do it with shuttles also.  For me, I think it will give me a better understanding of how the threads work, overall, which would be a good thing for me in, maybe, designing my own lace.







So this is how things are going for this week.

Have a Happy Hump Day!

Friday, September 09, 2011

Tatting

Here are the two projects I was working and I have to tell you that the scarf (above), as easy as it is, well I ended up screwing it up when I got a bit of a tangle in the yarn. Of course, I forgot where I was, and ended up pulling the yarn through for a chain instead of making a ring like I was supposed to....oye! So that, I decided, was the end of that, for now anyway. I was just starting to work my way back down the other side, literally the first turn. Give it a week or so, and I will most likely go back and pull out my mistake, but redoing mistakes on tatting is not as easy as crochet, by pulling it out and starting again. Tatting, at least for me, requires cutting, and gently pulling out and then adding yarn back in.

The second project (yellow flower) was an experiment from Priscilla Tatting, Book 3. There is an edging in Flower Design, using Twisted Tatting, also known as Josephine Tatting. It's a fun design, but I only did one motif just to see what it was like. I really enjoyed "twisting" things for a different change of pace, but I need to note that I didn't use no. 30 crochet cotton, as called for in the directions, but instead used size 10 cotton for a much larger motif. With a little adjusting, I think it would be wonderful to put on a pair of jeans or maybe a hat.

Now that the kids are back in school I'm working on clearing two work areas. One for leather, and the other for clay. That is one of the wonderful things about Tatting and Crochet, you do NOT need any special areas to work in. However, I like to keep things interesting, and add a lot of variety to my work. I do "dominate" a bit of the house, but at least I keep it out of the kids rooms, the laundry room, and the kitchen (for now)  : )

Now to get back to work and maybe squeeze in an episode or two of True Blood before they get home from school.

Have a wonderful Friday!

Monday, September 05, 2011

School Prep & Fishing

So the last couple of weeks got extra busy, and I don't mean craft wise. Between school shopping and fishing there was barely time to breath, but it was a good kind of deprivation : )  We also added one last impromptu camping trip. I'm looking forward to the kids getting back to school so I can breath a bit, lol!

The camping trip was a lot of fun, and if you pay attention to my blog I'm pretty sure you know that I am NOT a fan of camping, however if the right people are there, and I'm not sleeping in a tent, I don't mind so much. My hubby's cousin recommended the spot (and we met them there), it was a great area, not too far from home.

 The boys sleeping arrangements.

 Don't they look like they're having fun? This was down time after setting up : )

Next we spent a ton of time out fishing with my 13 yo. This was one of his catches! A nice 10 lb Salmon. We actually ended up limiting out on that day. Didn't have another day like that though, darn it!
 
And last, but not least, we spent the day at a BBQ with friends where I was wearing some of my hand made rings. They were a hit, which was really nice. The bottom one with the pink stones in not my design, the tutorial can be found here Opposites Attract Ring. Makes me want to start making rings again....but in the meantime....

On the creative side, I have been tatting. I didn't think about snapping pictures of it though, but if you want an idea of what I've been working on, and it's really just a way for me to practice, go to this site Totus Mel. I've been practicing two of her designs the chain maille and a scarf. If you are just learning to needle tat, this is an excellent site to visit. If you're looking to buy some fantastic needle tatted items this is her Etsy shop.

This should be enough to keep you busy until my next post!

Hope you're enjoying your long weekend!