Medallion Modifications

I have been thinking about what I want to do for Christmas ornaments this year, the ones I will give to family and close friends. I’ve been surfing Pinterest, blogs, and Craftree for ideas. There are some really cool things out there, but none have them really tripped my trigger, so to speak.

In the meantime, I’ve been playing with a medallion I first made a few of years ago when I went to Palmetto Tat Days. I came up with a medallion I used in an outfit for the costume contest they had that year. I made quite a few of these for the costume and had a few that were made but didn’t get used.

My Shuttle-shaped medallion

Thinking of Christmas ornaments I gave a thought to making this medallion a bit larger and adding beads. I added a few stitches to each of the rings and chains, made the joining picots big enough for beads.

Shuttle-shaped medallion first try with beads

It didn’t come out quite like I thought it would. Not that it’s bad, just not as expected. So I tried again.

Shuttle-shaped medallion with beads second try

This one didn’t come out quite like I hoped, either. Again, not bad, just not what I was hoping for.

The first one is closer to the shape I was looking for but was open in the center. The second one just didn’t keep the shuttle shape as much as I’d like.

Shuttle-shaped medallions, all three

I did succeed in making them larger, and I do like them with beads. I’m just not sure this is what I want to make as Christmas ornaments this year.

I used size 10 Lizbeth threads on all of these, so it is obvious that I did get the goal of making them bigger right. They just didn’t meet all of my goals. I’m not saying I don’t like them, they just didn’t come out quite like I was looking for. But I now have two modified medallions to hang around the house. Or maybe at work. This was not a waste of time. But when is tatting anything a waste of time?

The hunt continues for what I want to make for Christmas ornaments. Are you tatting anything for Christmas this year?

“Most discoveries even today are a combination of serendipity and of searching.” Siddhartha Mukherjee

A tatting observer

This year on our vacation we stayed at the same cabin we did two years ago, beside Lake Granby, Colorado. The colors were changing, showing us a lot of fall colors in the trees and brush. We did have to detour both coming and going due to the forest fires around the state, but we were never in danger from them. The air was smoky causing the mountain views to look hazy most of the time. This did not stop us from enjoying our stay.

View from the porch

The view from the porch was still mostly green, but very inviting. We drove around to see the colors but spent a lot of our time at the cabin or fishing in Lake Monarch. I had a bit more time to tat and watch the wildlife. Do you see the two Stellar’s jays in the tree?

Some of the wild life was more friendly than others. The jays and the nuthatch liked checking us out to see if we left anything for them, but the ground squirrels and chipmunks were braver.

Curious ground squirrel checking out my tatting

This ground squirrel wasn’t sure just what I was doing while I was tatting, so came to check out the situation.

“Do you have something for me?”

I kept telling him I didn’t have any food, but he didn’t believe me.

He kept on getting closer to see what I was doing

Do you see those cheeks of his? He would get seeds and stuff himself, but was so greedy he kept coming back to see if I had anything.

He really wanted to know if I had something for him

I know he was looking for food but he really, really wanted to see what I was doing. I love sharing tatting and showing others how it’s done, but I’m pretty sure the squirrel wasn’t getting it.

This guy and several other ground squirrels and a handful of chipmunks kept us entertained the entire week with their antics and curiosity. These little guys were friendly from the time we got there. One of our friends fed them with critter food (nuts and seeds) so they became more and more friendly as the week went on.

Two years ago we saw a lot of moose and a fox at the cabin, this year we saw neither. We were sad that we didn’t see the fox this time, though it didn’t look young then. There were also a lot more people at the lake this year. A lot more. With the dry weather and wind, we also dealt with a lot more dust. This doesn’t mean we didn’t enjoy our stay – we did!

I always look forward to our getting away for vacation, and seeing the wildlife is a bonus. And even more so when they are up close and personal!

“I have great instincts, like the instincts of a squirrel. You know, like when you’re driving and a squirrel stops in the middle of the road.” Simon Helberg

What to tat while on vacation

Every year before vacation I start thinking about what I will take to tat while we are away. What thread, what patterns, what findings if necessary, and how many shuttles. And every year, when it’s actually time to leave, my mind goes blank. Maybe because there are so many other things to think about, but whatever the cause, it happens. This year I had thought I would be working on my china hutch edgings. Surprisingly, I had them all done before we left. The unfortunate part is that now I had to think of something else to take with me.

I checked what threads I had on shuttles, to see if any would inspire me to finish off those threads. It would be a handy way to empty them, right? I looked through my thread collection to see if any of them would spark an idea to create a new project. I tried to think back on my wish list of patterns I wanted to try (I wish I wrote them down!). I really didn’t want to take half of my thread or shuttle stash with me this time.

I finally settled on the green I had used for my recent ice drop, as both shuttles still had thread on them; a ball of Lizbeth 129, Purple Splender, because it looked fun; and a few others that tickled my fancy at the time. I also brought a small selection of findings in case I wanted to make earrings.

Vacation purple doodle

Just to get the juices flowing, I started with a little doodle in Purple Splender. The finding in the center I had recently picked up at JoAnn’s thinking they would be good for earrings. Not a bad doodle, but I only made one. So I put it on my billfold.

Vacation purple doodle on my billfold

Then I doodled a bit more. I’m thinking I might try and put this on my billfold as well.

The second vacation doodle

Then I picked up the shuttles with the green thread from the ice drop. And then I added just a little more thread because it got bigger. And then I added just a little bit more thread again because I thought I was almost done. Then I wasn’t, so added thread one more time.

Vacation snowflake 2020

This snowflake is the end result. I noticed that it has some kind of stain in the center after I had gone on to the second round. Not sure what it is, but it doesn’t want to come out. As this was tatted by a lake and while on a pontoon boat day trip, I didn’t get it cleaned and didn’t worry about it. I have no pictures of the individual rounds as I did them, just this one is as finished. Not bad for doodling.

I enjoyed some beautiful scenery while on vacation this year. We like to go in September to see the Aspens while they change into their fall colors and we were not disappointed this year.

View from a pontoon

Though the water levels of Lake Granby and the Colorado River were down a long way, it was still fun to mosey up the river while the guys fished and relax in the quiet and beauty of a pontoon trip.

Tatting at Lake Monarch

This is the view I enjoyed while tatting beside Monarch Lake.

Hiking trail by Monarch Lake

I did not take my tatting along when I hiked a little ways up this trail. The colors were so splendid and changed a little bit every day I could have gone back daily while we were there.

I have a lot more vacation photos I’d love to share, and I will share a few next week. Including one of an interested observer of my tatting.

“Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake.” Wallace Stevens