Tag: tatting

In Progress

It turns out that if you actually work on your projects, they get done (I know I say that a lot, but it’s embarrassing how often I forget it). I started these socks almost a year ago, pulled them out in September when my feet started to get cold, and found them again earlier this month. I am determined to finish them by the end of the month. I’m about to start the second heel, so it seems a realistic goal.

socks

I also plan to finish spinning this electric blue soy silk by the end of the month. It should end up as a sport or light worsted weight. What should I make out of it?

spinning

This shamrock wasn’t long in the making. Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

shamrock

While we were away

This Thanksgiving my husband and I visited his family (who are also my family now. Very strange). The day was filled with food, family, and fun. I was also pleased to see many interesting textiles while we were away.

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Sage advice given by a cross-stitcher. 
pillow
This pillow is decorated exclusively with French Knots. I need to up my game. 
quilt
A gorgeous hand-stitched quilt. 
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And here is my own small contribution: a tatted bookmark.

Family Treasures

The women of my family are very crafty (in the best sense of the word). My great-grandma made beautiful handmade quilts. My nana taught my mom and her sisters to crochet. I learned to knit and taught my sister. I just found out that my great-great aunt was a tatter! My aunt contacted me, asking if I wanted Aunt Marie’s tatting, since she passed away several years ago. I’m the only tatter left in the family, it would seem. Of course I leaped at the change to have such a family heirloom. It seems Aunt Marie was working on several borders and trims. No patterns were included with her work, so I’m not sure what the original purpose was.

Lace before blocking is a crumpled mess – as much in tatting as in knitting, so when I received the package I wasn’t sure what it all actually looked like. There was the beginning of a doily (I think); two triangle sections of lace that must have taken hours and hours to make, each about 18″ long; and three trims – one about 8″ long, the others over a yard.

lace

After a good soak and a pinned blocking, look at the treasures I have been given! I will cherish these, and I hope to be able to honour Aunt Marie’s hard work by incorporating these pieces of lace into future projects.

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Pretty!

Look what I made!

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A while ago I was talking to one of my best friends and wondered what she would like for her birthday. She requested a tatted necklace in autumn colours. Well, her birthday has come and gone, but that just means I can give it to her for Christmas. I’m smart like that.

I’m thinking about playing with the chain style a little bit. Also starching…. Does anyone have any good suggestions about starching? I’ve never tried it before and I’m afraid it will gum up my beads and make them not sparkly 😦

If it turns out well, perhaps I will make some for my Etsy shop.

To tat or not to tat…

Teacher

noun

1.

a person who teaches or instructs, especially as a profession; instructor.

 

My coworker expressed an interest in tatting the other day. She crochets at work while I knit (this is the coworker that taught me to granny square). Most people think tatting looks pretty cool, but most write it off as “too hard” or “too small.” Not so, my coworker. She looked at it and thought, “Hey, I bet I could do that.” So yesterday morning as I was getting ready for work I put my shuttles and some crochet cotton in my purse for her.

Excitement and much learning ensued. I taught her the basics of tatting with a shuttle, but then an internet search brought her to ask about needle tatting. She just happened to have a long tapestry needle on hand, so I taught her how to needle tat as well! I don’t think I could have asked for a better student.

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Look! A tiny little seahorse!!!

New Ring

Hi Friends 🙂

Today I’d like to announce an addition to my shop: a Split Level Ring! When I was in college Thanksgiving was always an interesting time. I didn’t live near enough to school to go home for the weekend, but I really didn’t want to spend the holiday on campus. I ended up going to a friend’s house. Her house was one of the more interesting houses I’ve been in not because it was ornately furnished or of historical significance, but because it was a quadra-level. I had never seen anything like it! When I came up with the idea for this ring all I could think of was my friend’s house that it reminded me of.

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Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend

I feel like the last few weeks all I’ve talked about is my Etsy shop. And you dear people are probably getting tired of it. I apologize for my monotony, but my life really isn’t that interesting, and this is what I’m excited about at present. So thank you for bearing with me as I unveil yet another new item. Hopefully I’ll have more exciting things to talk about tomorrow. 

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This Diamond necklace has all the style of one of those sparkling things, but won’t break your bank. With my tight budget, I’m already a fan.

10!

I started my Etsy shop 19 days ago. Can you believe it has already been almost 3 weeks?! I sure can’t. Today I listed my 10th item. Well, to be correct, I listed my 9th and 10th items. But 10 just seems like such a milestone number. The decimal system is based on 10s. We have 10 fingers (and toes). On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 is the best. Anyway, let me introduce you to numbers 9 and 10.

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9 is a bookmark. Butterflies cluster around a single wildflower, until they are startled out into the open. Reading just got that much more exciting! This bookmark is, incidentally, inspired by a friend’s request for a tatted bookmark. If you would love to see something made please leave a comment or message my via Etsy. I love the creativity that comes from working with other people!

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10 is the first of a line of pendant necklaces. It isn’t easy in today’s modern world to believe in fairy tales. Life is a daily grind and there is no time for make believe. But you and I secretly know that we are really princesses, queens even, in disguise! We have been kidnapped by the evil witch, who forces us to live like the peasants around us. She may deny us crowns on our heads, but she would never expect us to proclaim our royalty by wearing pendants around our necks! Pattern by Corina can Krieken can be found here for free.

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Aww look at me smiling there! Little do you know that it’s because my evil plan for world domination is working!! Muahahahah!

The Ironies of Life

My favourite types of wit are irony and sarcasm. Sarcasm is wonderful because it can seem perfectly innocuous – until you listen to the tone of voice it is spoken in. Many people have heard me in sarcastic utterances and thought I was for real. Apparently I have a dry sense of humor.

And irony, now there is the best one of all. I find the process of taking a concept and turning it on its head to create a new concept fascinating. Especially when the concepts contradict each other. I find that irony pops up a lot in life – like when a 16-year-old girl swears she will never be like her mother. In fact, she will purposely grow up to be unlike her mother. Who does she end up turning into? Her mother. Irony. When I was little I was a tomboy. I disliked many girly things, and at the very top of my list was lace. Lace was one of the awful things of life, and I avoided it as much as possible. I could never find a pattern I truly liked, and even then, the fabric did not hold up well in the event of an impromptu game of anything (I grew up with 3 brothers and 2 sisters. There were lots of impromptu games). Now that I am older I enjoy making lace. I dream up new designs for it and wonder if there is a better way to incorporate it into everyday life. I tat lace, and I’m hoping to learn to knit lace in the near future. Irony.