February Tat and Chat

Last Tuesday my two most recent tatting students came over for a tat and chat.  We've been getting together about once a month for several months now.  We have so much fun!  I'm not sure just how much tatting actually gets done but we do talk about it and have a great time.

Sherry takes a cautious approach to tatting.  She doesn't like taking out mistakes so doesn't work very fast but she's making progress.  She's working on a heart that she would like to frame.

Becky is a lot more bold and not afraid to make mistakes.  Since last month she tatted four hearts, framed them and gave them away for Valentine's day.  She didn't yet have a pattern that called for it but she wanted to learn how to make split rings.  She was doing it quite well with them by the time she left.

Becky brought along a few flee market/antique store finds.  The small doily was found some time ago and looks to be made in about size 30.  Another time she and her husband did some bargaining for the silver shuttle.  The larger one we have determined is made from French ivory and is in very nice shape.  It is about the size of a Tatsy shuttle (the silver about the size of regular Clover) and still has tatting attached, the hen and chicks probably made in size 30.

We've set a date for our March get-together and made plans for our April meet to be on April 1 for International Tatting Day. They think they can handle the requirements: tat something fun, do it in public, and eat chocolate!

Have you made plans for International Tatting Day yet?

A Bunny and Two Hearts

TIAS 2016 © Jane Eborall

Look! Look!  I got the TIAS done!  Yay!

This Burgundy thread (Lizbeth #672 size 20) was a little too dark - I couldn't see what I was doing when I made a mistake.  He did come out pretty cute - love the teeth and carrot!

Tatted Heart adapted by Barbara Foster from design by

Mrs. J.M. Blackman, appearing in Modern Priscilla magazine in 1917

One of my aunts ended up in the hospital Saturday, so instead of taking her real flowers I took her some fake ones Sunday (no worries about spilling the water or flowers drooping before she could enjoy them).  It was a hurry-up job.  The 'vase' is a spice jar with a piece of burlap ribbon and a piece of smaller, white ribbon wrapped around it and the tatted heart - which I tatted up on the way from our house to the hospital.  I took the with me and attached the heart to the ribbon while we were in the parking garage.  This was the best of the pictures I took of it before we left.

My aunt liked it.

Joy's Heart Cross Bookmark © Wanda Salmans 2016
in Lizbeth #147 Red Burst size 20

This has been my take-along tatting project this last week.  I needed something without beads or too complicated (like the TIAS) and one that I wouldn't worry about messing up (like the Round Robin doily I'm working on).  I made the rings of the arms a bit bigger than I made the bookmark I gave my brother-in-law; I think this looks better.  My plan was to frame it and give it to my mother for Valentine's day but I haven't gotten that done yet.  I'll just give it to her when I get all the finishing touches done.

Now on to other things: the Round Robin doily I still have; a wedding gift for next month; the pincushions I want to make...  It feels good to be getting over the funk I've been in.

"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts."
Eleanor Roosevelt
brainyquote.com

Hymnal Bookmarks

A few months ago our church congregation decided to purchase new hymnals.  The 'Lutheran Service Book' has been out since 2006 but we are slow to accept change.  We like the old hymnal, 'Lutheran Worship', and going to the expense of buying different ones just because there is a new one out there is a large investment for a small congregation.  But our organist of many, many years retired last year and we are having trouble finding another one.  Even guest organists are hard to come by and they are mostly used to playing out of the LSB.  So we voted to to purchase the new hymnals.

It was brought up that the new books do not have any bookmarks in them.  You can purchase bookmarks that have two or three markers but no-one wanted to pay the extra.  I made a bookmark for my aunt that had a few tails and my mother brings a handful of bookmarks to church every Sunday.  As other members had also brought up the lack of markers I thought I'd see what I could come up with.

I've seen this type of bookmark on the Internet - regular ribbon, a button and an elastic hair band,  then I added four ribbon page markers.  

I made eight of them while watching the super bowl Sunday night.  I could have made more but I ran out of ribbon.

I will take these to church Sunday and let a few people try them out.  If they are liked I'll make a few more. I don't know that I'll make them for all the hymnals but, if they go over well, I'll make enough for everyone that comes regularly and maybe a few more.  We'll see what people think of them.

On the tatting front I've done a little:  I've made it to day 9 of Jane's TIAS.  

I know, she's posted the last day and people are sending in their finished pieces, but at least I'm back at it  I need to remember not to use such dark thread on something like this - if I make a mistake it's hard to see to undo it!

I did find a wonderful pattern I wanted to make for Valentine's Day but it is not going to get done in time.  In fact, I haven't started it yet.  And I have the Round Robin that I need to finish before I start something else.

I think I need one of the hymnal bookmarks to keep track of all the things I need to do.

But I'd have to add a few more tails.

"The attitude you pose is greatly influenced by the links of friendships you bookmark. Good friends, good attitudes; best friends, best attitudes.  Guess what for toxic friends...!C"

Israelmore Ayivor

goodreads.com/quotes

Redbird in the snow

Picture by S. Hanke

Western Kansas and a lot of Nebraska was hit with a blizzard February 2, 2016.  A friend of mine took this picture of a redbird in her yard. I don't know how much snow they had where this was taken but looks like quite a bit. Not enough to keep this little bird away.  Love this picture!

*I was told they had about 10 inches (25.4 cm)

Forgotten kitty

Tatted Cat © Rebecca Jones 1985

tatted by Wanda Salmans

I was visiting an aunt this week and noticed this kitty on her side table among other pictures and nick-knacks.  I had completely forgotten about making this until I saw it again.  

When I saw it I was trying to remember where I had found the pattern and when I had done it.  I had to do some thinking about how old it might be before I could think of the book.  Amazingly I guessed right the first time and pulled out the right book the first try.  The pattern is found in 'The Complete Book of Tatting' by Rebecca Jones.  I checked the published date to give me a clue of when I might have tatted it.  My copy of the book has "reprinted 1992 & 1994".  I'm pretty sure I tatted this about 1995 and gifted it for birthday or Christmas the same year.

I'm guessing the thread is DMC pearl cotton size 8 because, at the time, there weren't many other threads in pretty colors that I could find.  I didn't take a lot of time to look at it closely when I was at the aunts' house or I could be more sure.  It is mounted on light blue material in a wooden frame without glass.  It's almost hard to believe I made it 20 years ago!

This is a favorite aunt that I spent many hours with growing up and once I knew how to tat she was the lucky recipient of quite a bit of tatting.  In those days I didn't take pictures or write down what I made or where it went. This is one of the reasons I started blogging, to keep track of all that!

It gives me a little warm and fuzzy feeling to see that she has kept it all these years and still has it out to enjoy.

"The ideal of calm exists in a sitting cat."

Jules Renard

brainyquote.com