Center Bead Success

I have gotten a bit of tatting done this week, though not a lot.  I was successful in putting a bead in the center of a ring using split rings to make this hair decoration to put on these little gripper clips.  I had bought a package of these on the way to the wedding last month and now I'm looking for things to do with them. I've given this one to my daughter to try out and see what she thinks of it.  I haven't heard back from her but I'm working on another one, whether to put on this type of clip or something else, but I like the look.  It looks better than the picture shows it.

I started this one thinking I had all the right colored beads but when I went to get the seed beads the colors didn't match the thread at all!  So I'm using clear ones instead but I think they'll work fine.
We'll see if this goes anywhere.

Something I've been thinking of trying for quite awhile now I finally tried.  I have a lot of little doodles - butterflies, flowers, birds, etc - from emptying shuttles.  I do use them on cards and letters but I don't send many of those.  So what else to do these doodles?  How about wine glass charms?

These are very quick to make up.  20 gauge wire, wood craft pieces, a little glue and a doodle.

I like to drink wine (I'm not a connoisseur by any means!) but we don't have parties and I don't know that many people that drink it.  So I don't know what I'll do with these, but I thought they came out well. 

I had a good laugh after I did these a couple of days ago. I'd been thinking about doing these charms for months but never had and finally got around to doing them.  Then I opened my email and read Nancy Tracy's Be-Stitched newsletter. And what did I find?  Her tatting pattern of the month is a tatted "Goblet Charm"!  It's quite different and much more elaborate than mine, but still!  Dare I say "great minds think alike?"

It's hard to believe that it's almost September, but I look around and see that the sunflowers are in full bloom, some even past their prime. This is a small patch of garden variety sunflowers that I drive by every day (wild sunflowers are much smaller and branch out a lot).  I had wanted to get a picture of these earlier but never thought about it when I had time and my camera.  I finally had both time and camera, but you can see that some of the heads are already finished blooming.  Time is getting away  from me!

Things have not gotten done this week like I had hoped.  I was planning to have the barefoot sandal pattern done by today but it's not.  There are several things that I haven't figured out how to diagram yet, and it's taking more time than I estimated it would. And I've had a hard time making myself sit down and do it!

Tatting Tea Tuesday
I'm drinking green tea today, iced as the weather has decided to be hot again. Not has hot as we had it earlier this summer but still in the 90's.  My tatting was done earlier today when I got together with my sister and my mother for a visit and all of us were working on projects.  My mom and sister were knitting some pretty cool looking scarves and I was working on my hair piece.  It was a very pleasant way to spend the morning.  We're hoping to do it more often.

"How to Have A Lovely Day"

Smile at strangers

Slow down

Say thank you

Give lots of compliments

Dress nicely

Wear perfume

Observe and listen

Be charming

Laugh

Wish people a lovely day

Trial and Error

The green mess there in the front?  My attempts at adding a bead to the center of a ring. I watched Marilee's  video found on her blog, which is very clear and easy to follow, but mine look pretty sad.  This doesn't show all the rings I broke when trying to close them, just my semi-successful attempts.  I finally decided that if that wasn't working to try something else, namely trying it with split rings.  This is working much better.  Maybe when I get a little more comfortable with the technique I'll have better luck with the single-shuttle version. I can dream. 

Speaking of Marilee, have you seen her magnificent Nouveau necklace?  If you haven't seen it yet you really need to go check it out!

I've been working on the pattern for the latest version of barefoot sandals, trying to write out on paper what I did in thread.  My problem is habit -when I tat I don't think about what shuttle to use, as, this is shuttle #1 and this is shuttle #2, or even this is the pink and this the yellow, I just see which way I want the tatting to go and without thinking too much about it use the shuttle and technique to go that way. Which means when trying to write it out I'm totally lost on when to change shuttles.

I remember seeing how Fox used high-lighters to help her follow a pattern and thought I'd give it a try, too. I  loaded two empty shuttles with thread, added what I  hoped was enough beads and started trying to follow the pattern I jotted down, coloring the lines with the appropriate color as I went.  Coincidentally, the two high-lighters I happened to find were the same colors as my shuttles - how cool it that?   Now to consciously notice which shuttle I am using and mark the paper. So far it seems to be working well. I am, of course, correcting errors as I go and trying to note bead placement and use as well.  I don't often use beads and I think this is the first time I've made them an integral part of the pattern. Lots of new things to try documenting!

I was hoping to have the pattern done by today, but it didn't happen. I still have quite a ways to go.  I'm going to try hard to have it ready to post by next week, but it all depends on how much time I have to work on it. 

Today for Tatting Tea Tuesday I'm enjoying a cup of peach tea.  I'm going to make a second cup now that I'm done with this post and try to get some tatting done. I think I'm going to work on putting beads in the center of the ring again, take a break from the computer for a while.  The pattern work can wait just a little :-)

"I have failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed."

Michael Jordan

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Another pair of Barefoot Sandles

Lacey's barefoot sandals

I had made a pair of barefoot sandals for one daughter for her birthday and the other daughter really liked them and wanted a pair, too.  As her birthday was coming up I decided a pair would be a good present for her as well so I got started.  Well, not really quite that fast.  There was that wedding present I had to get done, and the new techniques to learn from Sherry's book so it didn't really get started that right away. 

Actually, it took several weeks to start on another pair.  The first pair took a long time to make - has something to do with not sure where I was going with it and using lots of beads, which I don't do much of.  I had a thought that if I started with something in the middle I could tat around it and it wouldn't take as long.  Then the trick was finding something to put in the middle.  I also wanted to make them with size 10 thread and I don't seem to have much of that in my stash anymore.  

Not quite two weeks ago I went up to Omaha to visit this daughter and while there we did a little shopping, both at Hobby Lobby and at a place called Mengelsens, a large local crafty-type shop.  At Mengelsens I found some flower doodads that I thought would look great as a center but I didn't find any beads there that I liked.  But at Hobby Lobby I got lucky - they had beads for 50% off!  So I bought four bags of glass beads for the price of two - whoo hoo!

These are made with DMC #310 black thread in size 10 and 6/0 glass seed beads, an Amethyst mix. 

I did have to start over a couple of times when things didn't turn out the way I had in mind.  I've been told that designing on paper or the computer can save a lot of time and thread but I haven't gotten there yet, I still do best with thread and shuttle in my hands. After a couple of false starts I came up with something I'm happy with.  I'm not sure just how long they took to make - I keep forgetting to check the time! - but much faster than the first pair.  The only reason this matters it that I've been asked if I would make some more...

These are #4 of this round of the 25 Motif Challenge.

Today is a great Tatting Tea Tuesday - it's raining!!!!  And it's only 65 degrees F, almost cool.  It feels great outside!  They say we'll only get a little rain out of this but any rain is welcome.  It's been so dry here that everything is brown unless you water, which we don't except for the flowers and a couple of young trees.  Walking in my yard is like walking through straw, it both looks and feels like straw.  It's so wonderful to have the rain!

"Raindrops

Raindrops are such funny things.

They haven't feet or haven't wings.

Yet they sail through the air,

With the greatest of ease,

And dance on the street,

Wherever they please."

Anon.

Graduation Cross Bookmark

I visited my daughter and her children this last weekend.  It was a lot of fun to spend time with them, but small children make tatting just a little hard.  They like to sit on laps and "help" with whatever you are doing.   In fact, my grandson wanted to know what I was doing with my "boat" :-) So, though I did get a small amount of tatting done it's not ready to share yet.

Graduation Cross Bookmark  based on an old pattern

Something that I have been working on at home is writing up some of my patterns.  This is another cross bookmark I made up a few years ago in the normal way that I come up with most patterns: I needed something for - you guessed it - a graduation gift.

I made this one with Lizbeth #115 "Springtime" size 20. It measures 3 inches long by 2 inches wide.  The center has one split ring then climbs out with a false picot and another split ring, the rest is just rings and chains.  If someone couldn't do split rings it would be easy enough to make the center as a separate piece then do the outside.  The basics of this cross I know is one of those patterns that most of us stumble to on our own, but I haven't seen a center done quite like this so I've added it to the pattern page.
(It will be up later)

I'm hoping to have something more to show next week.  So far I've had to un-do, re-tat, cut off, and start over several times. I've got the idea in my head, just having a little trouble translating it to thread.

"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me...Anything can happen, child. Anything can be." 
Shel Silverstein

http://thinkexist.com