I’ve had several people ask how I made the Lanyard from last week.
Tat Days Lanyard
I hadn’t planned on writing it out but changed my mind. This is my version of a simple idea that tats up quickly.
Lanyard, Wanda’s version
I’ve added the drawing with text to my Patterns page.
It has been a busy week. We’ve had a lot going on around the house as well as putting in a lot of overtime at work. The only tatting I’ve done is not worth sharing; it’s not pretty. I’ve been practicing cluny tatting. One of the classes I’m taking at Tat Days in September is a cluny pattern. Yes, I’ve made them before but only enough to say I know how to do them. Now I would like them to look good as well. I can’t say they look good yet but it doesn’t take me as long now to make them.
I have a lot of ideas of things I would like to tat. Now I’m trying to make the time to do them. Hopefully when I have the energy to do them and not just think about them.
“A woman’s mind is cleaner than a man’s: She changes it more often.”
I sent a card to my mother the other day just to let her know I was thinking of her. I found this lovely card that expressed what I wanted to say beautifully. When I send cards I like to personalize them with a bit of tatting. My mother is very fond of dragonflies, so it seemed the perfect touch to add one.
Dragonfly tatted in Lizbeth size 20 Easter Eggs
I tried to remember where I had seen the dragonfly pattern I was thinking of. Jane Eborall has an awesome pattern for one but it takes a lot of beads, which is no surprise. Also no surprise I’m not wanting to use that many beads. As I couldn’t remember where to find the pattern and didn’t have time to surf the ‘net for it, I doodled a bit and came up with a reasonable dragonfly.
Over a week after I sent the card I saw that Michelle, over at Tela Magistrae, had made dragonfly earrings. The pattern was pretty much what I was looking for. Eliz Davis commented they looked like a pattern from Jon Yusoff. Sure enough, that’s the pattern I was looking for. I think it will be easier than the one I made. Michelle’s earrings turned out so well! I think I’ll be making a pair for my mother. And maybe me, too.
Instead of tatting much this weekend my husband and I spent it with family. We went to our oldest daughter’s house to spend the day Saturday. Our daughter and family from Nebraska were able to come down, too. We have tried to have a longer vacation together like we have done the last several years, but we just couldn’t get the timing to work. We had a great day visiting, doing things together, and watching the kids play together. Sunday we had all of them over to our house along with other family and a few friends. It was a great weekend.
With the busy weekend I’m behind on reading all the tatting blogs I like. But that’s okay! I knew all the blogs would be there when family had gone home. Now that I have time I’m looking forward to seeing what all you’ve been up to.
“It’s not the amount of time you devote, but what you devote to the time that counts.” Found in a fortune cookie
I decided to make myself a lanyard for Tat Days. It should be in a color that looks good with shirts I may be taking with me. It’s amazing how that one requirement limits color choices for me. I have a lot of thread, most of which are colors that I like – who wants to tat with colors they don’t like?? – but inevitably a lot of my clothes are those colors, too. But not always the same shade.
With much comparing and mind changing I finally settled on DMC Cebelia Lavender. For some reason I’ve had a ball of this in size 10 for quite some time. A lanyard made of size 10 would tat up fast and be quite durable. So far, so good.
In the beginning, I planned to make Patti Duff’s Beaded Lanyard (you can find it on Craftree). I got a bit ahead of myself while trying to find beads that would work with the thread. I started playing without having Patti’s pattern printed.
Hatband instead of lanyard
I went for a while before admitting I didn’t like the looks of my efforts for the lanyard. Not one to throw tatting out just because it didn’t turn out as expected, I put it on my hat as a hatband. I like it better as a hatband than as a lanyard.
I started again, and again I was impatient. This time I didn’t want to string the beads. The black beads weren’t the right size anyway. With no pattern but an idea, I started once more, this time without beads as well. I know I’ve seen something akin to this out there on the Internet but I made it without referring to a pattern.
Lanyard in DMC Cebelia size 10 Lavender
I like it this version much better. It went fast and was easy to do while a passenger in the car. I did get a bit carried away – it’s a bit long. Oh, well! Better than too short. I added a couple of clips to the ends that can be clipped together or to a name tag or some such. Done!
Tatted hatband and lanyard in DMC Cebelia Lavender size 10
I’m ecstatic about going to Tat Days. I’m counting down the days! I keep checking the Palmetto Tatters Guild page for updates. I’m planning what clothes to pack and what to wear. I’ve traveled before but not anywhere like this, not with tatting as the destination. **happy dance** Anyone else getting excited about going?
“Over prepare, then go with the flow” – found in a fortune cookie
P. Melanie Vliet contacted me a few months ago apprising me how she had used my pattern “Flagged Edging” to make a garter for her son and soon-to-be daughter-in-law’s wedding. She actually made two, one to keep and one for the groom to toss. She added beads for a little added elegance.
Wedding garters tatted by P. Melanie Vliet using ‘Flagged Edging’
I love her manikin leg display! Can you guess what it is? It’s a box of oatmeal wrapped in skin-colored paper inside a pair of old pantyhose. What an inventive way to display garters! She’s going to exhibit them at this year’s Orange County and Southern California fairs. The wedding party won’t miss them; that event isn’t for several more months. I hope she does well with them at the fairs. I give them top marks!
Using the same pattern as a start she also made herself earrings.
Earrings made using ‘Flagged Edging’
Amazing, aren’t they? I would never have thought of using the pattern like this.
Melanie has used another of my patterns, ‘Hanging Basket Edging’, to decorate an eye-glass case. I love the colors she used. Another great job!
Tatted glass case cover done in Hanging Basket Edging
Thanks, Melanie, for letting me share your wonderful tatting here on my blog. Such a wonderful way to imagine tatting. Good luck at the fairs!
P Melanie Vliet is a member of the Facebook group “Tatters of Lace.” It’s a closed group but you can request to join if you are a tatter.
Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. Albert Einstein Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_imagination.html
A little 4th of July tatting using Jane Eborall’s Beaded Lock Chain pattern in Lizbeth #652 blue and #671 Red in size 20. I wanted to make it out of size 10 but I didn’t have red and blue in it. The beads would have worked better with size 10 as well, but it was fun to make.
Today is pretty soggy due to heavy rains last night and light rain off and on today, but it is supposed to clear up by tomorrow night. At least all the rain makes shooting off fireworks very safe this year 🙂
Wishing all of you in the States a happy and safe Independence Day!
The Star Spangled Banner
Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight, O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
