Playing in Clover

 The Ides of March have passed and St. Patrick's day is upon us. Have you been tatting up the green? Have you been enjoying the green out the window?  I have heard that some people are staring out the window to several feet of snow this morning, no green to be found outside. All the more reason to enjoy a bit on the inside of the window!

I wasn't going to tat clovers this year, as I have other projects I'm working on. That changed when my mom went to the hospital. She is still there after more than a week. They were going to send her to rehab last Friday, then determined that she wasn't ready yet. This happens when there are a lot of doctors involved and they don't necessarily talk to each other. So I spent time in her room with green thread and shuttles, making clovers. 

Playing in clover

My original plan was only to make what clovers came about when I cleaned green thread off of shuttles. While I was doing this at the local senior center a few weeks ago I noticed the director was entranced by the clover that came out of it so I gave it to her. She put it on her desk where she could see it. And then it was gone.

Framed clover

As I ended up making a lot more clovers, I decided to give her a few that would be harder to lose. I found a small picture frame and repurposed it to frame a few clovers. I'm thinking I could change out the clovers with other tatted items as I make them. If she wants, of course. 

I also made something for me that I have thought about but never done. 

Clovers on a pin

I've pinned clover to shirts and jackets before, but it's always been in an afterthought kind of way. This time I purposely added them to a safety pin, with beads even! Even though St. Patrick's day is tomorrow, this pin will be worn much longer. It gives out a 'spring' feeling, don't you think?

We're praying that my mom goes to rehab soon, which will be much closer to home. We'll be able to spend time doing other things instead of traveling back and forth. And she'll be working on getting strong enough to go home. 

I'm looking forward to getting back to my regularly scheduled projects!

What are your tatting plans for spring?

"In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours."

Mark Twain

More Tatting I Found in a Drawer

 I mentioned last week I found several tatted things in a draw. It is a drawer where I put miscellaneous tatted items I make, either to put away for later, or because I'm done with them and I don't know what else to do with them. Sometimes I put tatting in the drawer just to get it out of the way when I 'clean house'.  Most of the time I forget to go back to the drawer except to put more in it. When I do check it, it's kind of like Christmas, I'm never sure what I will find. 

This piece looks like I was trying something, then didn't know what to do next. At least, I'm pretty sure this was me playing around.  

Found small doily

I've been think I should add on to this a bit. If I do, I'll try a different color thread. That way I don't have to try and match this thread, or worry about any aging related discoloration with the old thread not matching the new. 

Way back in the early eighties in my part of Kansas, I had a hard time finding colorful thread to tat with. I could find white, ecru, and maybe, black, though not all were conducive to tatting. I could find DMC size 8 in quite a few colors. This is a very soft thread, and splits easily if you try and fix any mistake. But they were in COLOR! I did quite a bit of tatting in these before I discovered other threads.

DMC color chart

I made this helpful little card to keep track of the colors. Later it came in handy when I found DMC Cordonnet Special, back when you could find them in an assortment of colors. There was a store in Wichita, Kansas, that had most of the colors in sizes 10 and 30. It was wonderful! It even had a section of tatting patterns - whoa! What made DMC threads even more wonderful, you could match the Condonnet with their embroidery floss. My sister and I made several projects together with her embroidery and my tatting using DMC threads. 

You can still find DMC size 8 and size 5 in lots of colors, but I don't tat in it any more. There are much better threads out there that I have access to now. It is sad that you can only get the Cordonnet in neutral colors now. At least that's how it is around here.

Easter is just around the corner. I am doing a little tatting for the season, but not as much as I might have. The last week I've been spending a lot of time in hospital rooms with my mother. She is getting better, but still not home. I've only been taking small things to tat, that I don't have to worry about losing or making mistakes. 

The weather has been unseasonably warm almost all winter. Now we're going from hot to cold, cool to warm, up and down. The flowers and animals are somewhat confused, and allergies are here with a vengeance. Enjoy the outdoors, but be prepare for changes in the weather and pollen.

What are you making this spring?

"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine."  Anthony J. D'Angelo

Once Upon A Stork

 

Once upon a time, about 15 years ago, my daughter was pregnant with her second child. For a gift I made Jane Eborall's tatted stork to put on a photo album. I can't remember if I made this one first for practice, or made it second, meaning to give it away. Whatever I planned, I found it in a drawer the other day.

Stork

I remember how much I enjoyed making this. I have always enjoyed making split rings, ever since I learned how many years ago. The way Jane designed the legs on this really caught my attention. I modeled the legs of a spider I designed that same year (2011) after them. 

I found a few other things in the drawer that I have forgotten about. Some I remember when I did them and others were just passing thoughts. I'll probably share them another day.

"A heart without dreams is like a bird without feathers."

                                                                Suzy Kassem

Another Modification

I made another Split Ring Cross with another modification, this one totally unintentional. This is what happens when you are distracted while tatting.

Modified Split Ring Cross

I made the 'modification' on one arm and went too far before it was noticed. As I didn't want to untat that much I decided to just go with it. It's not that it's that bad, but it just doesn't have the right balance to it. 

Two crosses together

I prefer the one on the right, the way I planned it. The one on the left will go in either my Bible or my husband's. Nothing wrong that hiding it as a bookmark won't cover. 

I'm working on an Easter project that I hope will be done in time. The thread has been decided but not the pattern. That will be figured out as I go along. It will probably be a few weeks before I'm close to sharing it. It's not the only thing I've been tatting. 

Maybe that's why it will take awhile. 

"If you never change your mind, why have one?" 

                                                            Edward de Bono

Cleaning Up Leftovers

 I'm cleaning up my shuttles, tatting small things to get leftover thread off of them. I rarely measure when I add thread to a shuttle, just add until it's full. I'd rather do this than have to add thread in the middle of a project if I possibly can. This does lead to small amounts left on shuttles when the projects are done. Periodically I try and find small things to tat with the leftovers. 

This snowflake was done in a waiting room while my mother had an appointment. 

Snowflake doodle

When tatting while out and about I expect to find mistakes later. You never know when you will be interrupted, or where in the piece you'll have to stop. If you are fortunate, it will be at a good stopping point. If you're not, you might forget what you were doing when you got interrupted. You can't see it in this not-so-wonderful picture, but the thrown rings are upside down. This isn't a problem unless you do front side-back side tatting - which I do. I'll probably keep this and put it on my Christmas tree next year.

Two-tone doodle

There was still thread on both shuttles when I finished the snowflake, so I tried something else. I can see this as another snowflake, though it will need modification if I don't want to cut and tie every two arms. Maybe ears? Wings? I might give it more thought, I might not.

Key paperclip bookmark

I started this a while back and forgot about it. This paperclip bookmark is a one shuttle with ball pattern. There was still thread on the shuttle when I was done so I'll have to find something else to do with it.

Caribbean paperclip

This paperclip bookmark is made with Lizbeth Caribbean HH20122. I love this color in any size! But this particular ball of thread must be old, because it was awful to work with. Closing rings was mostly impossible if they had more than a few stitches. I finished the project I started with this but wanted something that used more chains than rings. I was watching TV when I tatted this one. There are a lot of boo boos in this, but I will still use it at home. 

Now there more shuttles ready for other projects. I have a list.

What do you do with leftovers?

"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found."

Calvin Trillin