Wanda's Knotty Thoughts: Paper and lace Easter egg

I was visiting Carolyn's blog 'Shopping My Stash' and saw how she has been tatting on paper, recently dong Easter eggs. I thought it looked like fun and decided to try it myself

It's a simple project that took me forever to get going. First I decided to buy a 1/8" punch for the holes. The day after I bought one I found I already had one, in an unopened package no less. Then I decided on the cross for the center and had to find paper and thread that worked with it. This had me going through my scrap-booking paper to find that the ones that I liked the best were not on card stock. I did eventually find paper I liked that would work. When I finally made my choices and cut the paper I ruined one of them by not paying close enough attention to where I punched the holes. As you can see on this one I could have paid closer attention to punching these holes, as well, but they are much better than the previous one.

I obviously wasn't thinking things through when I started tatting on this. On the first ring I made the first picot pretty short (which will be the final join) but the third picot long enough to reach the ring that will be in the next hole. Why I didn't fix that first picot I don't know, but it became an issue in the end, of course. I faked it at the end, and though it's visible, I don't think it came out too bad. I added a loop of narrow ecru ribbon at the top so it can be hung up. Originally I had thought to make an extra ring at the top to hang it from, but I didn't like the look when I tried it.

I am pleased with how it came out. I also have a better idea of what I'm going to do if I make any more of these. Or anything similar. Thank you, Carolyn, for the inspiration and the tips on this paper and lace project.

I'm thinking about doing a few of these with old Christmas cards and giving them to family and close friends as my yearly ornament. If I start now I might have a few done in time. It depends on how hard it is to pick out the thread...

I ended up giving this to a friend of mine whose aunt had died the week before Easter. I also gave him a tatted cross bookmark, my usual sympathy gift. It just seemed appropriate.

"A portion of your soul has been entwined with mine. A gentle kind of togetherness, while separate we stand. As two trees deeply rooted in separate plots of ground, while their topmost branches come together, forming a miracle of lace against the heavens."