Today's the Day!!

A Good friend of mine has been frantically working hard to launch a new Tatting Pattern site.

Website: Tatting Pattern Central
Launch date: December 1st, 2011

Link checks and pattern searches are done twice a week. Updates are made when free patterns become available.

Right now, there are close to 2,000 free patterns! Wow!

I realize that may not be as much as knitting or crocheting, but it's just another sign that Tatting is NOT a lost art!

We've come a long way people!! Let's keep up the great work!



TAT-ON!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING !!!

May your plates and bellies be full, and your hearts and souls be light and happy!!

Tatted Hair Clips How-To

Hey everyone,


Thought I would post my stitch counts and steps for making the hair clips.


Stitch Counts:  (DS in blue, Picots in red, Joins in pink)


6 p 5 p 1 lp 1 p 5 p 6  cl

*6 + 5 p 1 lp 1 p 5 p 6  cl * 

(repeat * to *3 x more)   by this point you should have 5 rings

On the last ring (there should be 6 total), you will do the following:6 + 5 p 1 lp 1 p 5 + 6  

After closing my final ring, I tie tails together then trim close (you can hide if you prefer).

 I then add diluted white glue to the piece, making sure it gets in on both sides and especially where it was tied (blot the excess). You can "paint brush" the glue on if you prefer.. the whole idea is to stiffen the flower so holds its shape.

If you add beads to the picots, just avoid putting glue on the picots

After the glue has dried, I sew a bead to the center of the flower. 

After tying the thread off from adding the bead, I add more glue directly over the backside.

After this has dried, I add a dab of super-glue to the hair clip, then add the flower and press til set. I then leave it several hours to make sure it is cured.


If you decide to try these, let me know your experience - I'd love to hear about it!!!

The Food on My Plate

Today's lunch... which was thrown together from a Hodge-podgy of ingredients that were floating around in my brain (OK, that sounds weird).

Black beans, shredded zucchini & carrot, onion, garlic & spices in a tomato base sauce over brown rice

I admit, this may not be an award-winning dish, nor worthy of a blue ribbon. But it tasted pretty good and I remembered to snap a photo... that should count for something, right?

It Was Time To Jump on the Bandwagon

So today I took the leap... I joined Facebook (Lily)



The nice thing is, I have my first friend connection already.... Mark Myers (TatMan).. Sweet!! I love perusing his site (Tat-Man)


The other day I finished the hair clips I was working on... just now got around to photographing them. Boy, I have fun making these!

I call these carnival hair clips due to the colors. Thread is Hakelgarn size 10 in snow white

Green clips with Blue flowers and green beads. Thread is Hakelgarn size 10 in Royal Blue

Pink clips and Black flowers with red beads. Thread is Lizbeth size 10

Also, I finished another layered flower ring

Made in Lizbeth Black size 20 with chzech crystal bead in the center and tiny glass seed beads from Fox

If there is enough interest in the stitch count I use to make my flower, I'd be happy to write out the details in my next post.
Just drop a comment letting me know you are interested, and I'll get right on it.


Update, I've just received another friend connect.... Is'Dihara!
Thanks Charlie Brown!!   lol

She Be Finished

Yesterday I finished tatting 1/13 hearts in the 'Tatting Hearts' book (by Teri Dusenbury) from Fox's Beadaway.

This one is called 'Regal Heart'.

Now, I have some of Teri Dusenbury's other patterns (available from her website), and while they are sometimes difficult to decipher, I was pleasantly surprised to find the Regal Heart pattern rather easy to understand. I also was pleased to see there are more patterns in the book than what is shown on the front cover.


The same night I received the package, I opened the book and started reading. While Ms. Dusenbury is a very accomplished tatter (far greater than I could ever aspire to be), she does have one belief that I don't necessarily agree with (but maybe that is what makes her so accomplished).


One thing she believes is [quote] I also believe that tatting is meant to have a wrong and right side. [end quote]


Crochet, has a wrong and right side... Tatting CAN have a wrong and right side, but if we do not follow standard procedure of creating wrong and right sides, then our tatting can be laid on either side and no one's the wiser. I love this idea. It actually allows tatters (especially beginners) to knot have to worry about which half of the stitch has to be worked first, allowing more freedom, and I hope that this will eventually help to de-categorize Tatting and Crochet as one in the same *for those less familiar* (but this is just my H.O.)


Again, I'm not putting Ms. Dusenbury down ~ I'm just giving my 'book review'.  Next heart in line to tat: Heart o' Daisies.


I took time today to finish making the other hair clip (so now I have 2 matching clips)

Hakelgarn Size 20 in Pale Yellow

I finished the ring I was working on:

Kinda Funky, I know.. but I like it. Lizbeth Size 20 Sea Green Dk, Chezch Beads, Brown and Copper thread size 80)

 And I started another ring:

Another Dusenbury pattern, made with Altin Basak size 50 and seed beads (from FOx). Will be attached to a silver-plated ring finding

That's all for now.


Tat-a-loo!

Effectual Tatting Tips

Did You Know? 

To achieve a 'glittery-like' effect on tatting when stiffening, use a fine-tip paint brush to apply diluted craft glue.

To achieve a 'matte' effect when stiffening, soak the tatted piece with diluted craft glue (for a few moments) and then blot the excess.

See the difference?