More hearts

 Flower Heart from Kelly at Tatfully Yours

I'm still making Kelly's Flower Heart earrings.  A few days ago as I was leaving the house I had another thought, what about putting a doodad in the center?  I think they came out very well. This pair is in Lizbeth #644 Boysenberry dark size 20. I wore a pair of them to work one day and two people asked if I would make them some.  The only real question then was "what color?"  

Flower Heart from Kelly at Tatfully Yours

I tried a pair in Lizbeth #123 Grape Pizzaz in size 20.  I don't think they look as pretty as those in a solid color.  In fact I had to make two pair because these hearts use so little thread that only a little of the color change was seen so that the first two I made didn't look like they belonged together.  One was mostly pink with very little purple and the other was mostly purple with no pink.  If I hadn't known better I would have thought I used two different color of threads.  I made two more hearts paying close attention to the color change so they would look like they belonged together.  Then I only took a picture of one pair before I gave them away.

The only other tatting I've gotten done is Jane's TIAS.  I still don't have a clue as to what it might be.  My husband saw and thought it might be a baby carriage and I know several other people doing the TIAS has had that thought, too.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see.  Jane is posting day 7 tomorrow.  

My day 6 of TIAS 2013 in Lizbeth #131 Vineyard Harvest size 20

I have a lot of fun reading every one's comments as they participate in the TIAS, both about what they think it might be but also about the weather they are having, where-ever in the world they are. It's hot and wet in Australia and cold and snowy in England.  Here in Kansas we've had a lot of ups and downs in the weather. Yesterday it was 75° F, today it's about 40° and a chance of snow tonight.  We definitely could use the moisture in whatever form we can get it! 

Enjoy your day in whatever weather you may be having, along with a little tatting if you can.

"The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain." 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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Heart Earrings

Flower Heart from Kelly at Tatfully Yours

I saw some cute heart earrings at West Pine Creations and followed her link to Tatfully Yours for the pattern.  I must admit I didn't follow her pattern but just followed her lead but she did post the pattern if anyone would like to give them a try.  They make really nice earrings that tat up quickly.  Kelly also put them together to make a wonderful snowflake.  

These are made of Lizbeth size 20 in Christmas Red #671 with silver beads.  My daughters really like them. (Me, too!)  Thanks, Kelly, for these wonderful little hearts. 

I didn't get a lot of tatting done this week as our daughter and family came to visit for the weekend.  We just had too much to do to have much time to tat.  And it is somewhat hard to tat with little ones sharing your lap:-)

My attempt at TIAS 2013 in Lizbeth #131 Vineyard Harvest in size 20

What can it be?

Are you doing Jane's TIAS this year?  She's still keeping us guessing as we haven't even reached the halfway point yet.  She's also got a lot of us trying new techniques such as split chains and Catherine Wheel Joins.  I've made a few mistakes as I've gone on but that's because I didn't practice those techniques before starting - my own fault as she warned us!  But I've been trying them where I hadn't tried them before.  It's lots of fun to see the colors everyone is using and what their guesses might be.  There are people from all over the world tatting along with her, bringing Tat Land together with this game.  Isn't Jane just the greatest? 

"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your heart."

Ecclesiastes 9:10

The Shape of Hearts

Welcome to my little piece of Tat Land on this Tatting Tea Tuesday.  Today as I sip Candy Cane Lane tea from my snowman mug I am pondering the shape of hearts. 

I made these four hearts this last week.  All are ones I've done previously in the last couple of years, though the top three were modified just a little bit, and all are my patterns.  All are made in Lizbeth size 20 #644 Boysenberry dk.

The top one is one end of my "Heart's Honor" book mark with the top redone to be a stand-alone heart.  I think the top works well like this.  I added a couple of rings at the top thinking I might wear it as a pendant though it's a little larger than I would normally wear. Maybe it would be better as a pin or brooch?  Beads would look really good on it.  I actually like the shape of the inner heart better than I like the finished piece but it just didn't look finished without that last round. 

The heart on the left I made last year for Valentine's day.  It started out as one end of a bookmark that eventually turned into "Heart's Honor".  I changed the stitch count on a few of the rings which changed it's shape just a little bit.  I'm pretty happy with this heart, though the top center could still use a little help: I think it could come down a little bit, more like the original did.  

The heart on the right is from February 2011.  Originally I did make it with beads and a slightly different stitch count which has changed the look a bit, now being a bit more narrow.  I like the top better than the one on the left but to me it's a bit too narrow overall.  I didn't put beads in it this time around as I was not tatting it at home, but would probably use them the next time I make it. 

The bottom one is "Joy's Heart" from my previous post.  This is my favorite of the four as the shape is the closest to my ideal of a heart shape. I haven't yet made it with beads like Michelle has but I'm sure I will in the future.  Actually I've made quite a few of them already but I haven't quite decided what I'm going to do with all of them. I did put one on a cord, wearing it as a necklace.  Looks pretty good that way.

I haven't tried making any one else' heart patterns yet this year, though I'm thinking about trying Jane's button heart.  I did start on her TIAS for this year though. She posted Day 2 today but I haven't had time to do it yet.  I'll post pictures another day.

Are you planning on making hearts for Valentine's Day this year?  Have you started yet? What is your favorite heart shape?

It's quite a surprise to me that I have already started as I'm usually only getting started the week of February 14.  And I'm not done yet!

"The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart."  
Helen Keller
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Of teapots and hearts

For Tatting Tea Tuesday today I'm enjoying my very first Tea-for-One teapot.  My oldest daughter and her family gave it to me for my birthday along with a tin of Tazo Refresh Mint tea, which she knows I like. 

She's seen that I've started drinking more tea in the last few years and supports it by furnishing me tea once in awhile.  This time it was with the whole teapot as well.  She is so sweet!  It's it pretty?  (I'm going to have to have a slightly larger space to place my tea cup by my tatting chair though - it's a bit wider than the mugs I usually use.)

Speaking of sweet, Michelle over at Tela Magistrae has recently tatted a couple of my patterns, Christmas Snowflake 2010, which is on my pattern page, and then the heart  that I posted about last week.  She likes the pattern but not the result she got due to the colors she used (it looks white on my computer).  Check it out, I think she did a great job.  Thanks, Michelle!

As the pattern seems to be workable I'm sharing that with everyone now. Check it out on the Patterns page.

Joy's Heart © Wanda Salmans 2012

There are a couple other hearts that I have made over the last several years that I'm working on the patterns for.  I hope to have them done very soon.  

I invite you to have a cup of tea today for Tatting Tea Tuesday, it will warm your heart. 

I'm a little teapot,

Short and stout,

Here is my handle, 

Here is my spout,

When I get all steamed up, 

Hear me shout,

Tip me up and pour me out!

By George Harold Sanders and Clarence Z. Kelley

Heart and Earrings

Lizbeth Christmas Red #671 size 20

  I told my husband that he should come up with what he wanted to give his mother for Christmas this year;  he asked if I couldn't come up with "a pin or something".  This is the pin that I came up with. The tatted heart is a clover surrounded by two rounds of chains, then glued to a wooden heart.  I added the angel charm to the front and a pin clip to the back so it can be worn as a pin/brooch.  I just noticed in the picture that when I glued the heart down one side didn't lay quite right.  Oh, well, too late now.  It still looks pretty nice.

I wouldn't be surprised if the heart is similar to someone else's pattern, but I came up with it without referring to a pattern. In fact, the evening I started on it I had tried one idea and pitched it before starting on the clover and the first round.  At that point I thought it looked pretty ugly, too, but went to bed before starting again.  The next morning when I looked at it again it was still ugly but I thought I'd try one more thing before giving up on this version.  Once I put the second round on it looked a lot better!  I also just realized I don't have a picture of the heart without the charm in front of it.  I guess that will be for another post. 

Lizbeth Seagreen Dark #688 size 20 and pink seed beads

Both of my daughters were enthusiastic about getting earrings for Christmas.  I made both sets in the same pattern but in different colors.  The other set is in pink thread with black beads (her favorite color combination).

Lizbeth Western Sunset #102 size 20 and silver seed beads

These are my first tatting of the new year.  I made these in the car on January 1 while coming back from a visit to our daughter in Omaha.  I started with the piece on the left, just doodling.  I thought it looked too big for earrings so I made two others a little bit smaller for earrings to go with the pendant.  The pendant is somewhat small and the earrings are somewhat large (for me) but wearable.  I'm definitely going to change the bale on the pendant but it was the only one I could find at home.

Now that Christmas is over I feel the need to start on the list of tatting that I've put off for one reason or another.  It's also possible that I could be giving some tatting lessons soon, so I need to figure out what I need for that. And IsDihara over at Ambitatterous  has me thinking about what techniques I might want to learn this year.  Looks like I'm already busy, busy.

Welcome to 2013!

"Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now." 

Denis Waitley

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