The Season For Crosses

Spring is definitely the season for crosses, Mother's Day and graduations being the main two, and there seems to be a lot of birthdays as well. Cross bookmarks in cards is my go-to answer for small gifts that are easily given in cards for whatever event they are needed. 

Cards and Crosses

This year our church has seven high schoolers graduating from three different area high schools. The small crosses I've been tatting lately made excellent small gifts for them. I had eight made thinking this was enough for my mom for Mother's Day and the grads. But Thursday I realized I wanted to give my sister, daughters, and nieces each one for Mother's Day as well. I had enough for that, but not enough left to give to the graduates on Sunday morning. So I had to get busy and make more. 

Mother's Cross

My mother was thrilled to see that the cross I gave her was a match for the card. This was a happy coincident, that I had a cross made that went so well with a card I picked up a after tatting it. The other's also liked their crosses. 

Graduation crosses

I was able to tat enough crosses for all the graduates as well by finishing the last one Sunday morning before leaving for church. As usual, the hardest part was hiding the ends. No matter the method, it isn't as fun as the actual tatting. 

Others that received crosses in the last two weeks were a woman who was confirmed in our church, and the daughter of a friend of ours who died; our families attended the same church for many years. 

I think I've made 16 or 17 crosses in the last month, and I've given them all away. I had better start making more, they seem to be going fast. 

Happy Mother's Day to all of you! I hope all of you have had a marvelous day!

"A mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them."      Victor Hugo

Tatting To Stay Awake

 This last weekend I traveled with several ladies of our congregation to the 2026 Kansas District LWML Convention. (LWML used to stand for Lutheran Women Missionary League, now it's Lutheran Women in Mission.) There were 288 persons in attendance, including the women, some husbands, some pastors, and speakers. The convention is a large business meeting, along with mission activities, leadership seminars, Bible studies, worship services, as well as a lot of visiting with women from all over the state of Kansas. This year it was held in Manhattan, KS, about 90 minutes from our home church. There were nine of us from our church, five of us traveling in one van. 

Small crosses tatted at the convention

This time I did tat while traveling. I sat in the third row of the van, making conversation with the others somewhat limiting. Travel time one way was about right for tatting one cross except for hiding the ends. I also did some tatting during the business meetings. I wasn't a voting delegate so some of the items on the agenda didn't involve me, making it a great time to tat. During the times when people were presenting the descriptions of their proposed mission projects it also worked well to be tatting. 

There was that one time where I wasn't paying enough attention to my tatting while I listened. Can you tell which one I was working on?

I went to the convention with a few crosses already made, and I gave away two of them. One young woman came up to me to express how excited she was to see someone tatting. She said it had been awhile since she had her needles out. Unfortunately, I was being called away at that time and couldn't speak long. I gave her a cross and a card with my blog name before I had to run. I couldn't find her later. I hope she contacts me so we can talk more. 

The weekend was inspiring and fun; it was wonderful to meet up with old friends and make new ones. We were all tired by the time we got home, and looking forward to sleeping in our own beds.

Another Modification

I made another Split Ring Cross with another modification, this one totally unintentional. This is what happens when you are distracted while tatting.

Modified Split Ring Cross

I made the 'modification' on one arm and went too far before it was noticed. As I didn't want to untat that much I decided to just go with it. It's not that it's that bad, but it just doesn't have the right balance to it. 

Two crosses together

I prefer the one on the right, the way I planned it. The one on the left will go in either my Bible or my husband's. Nothing wrong that hiding it as a bookmark won't cover. 

I'm working on an Easter project that I hope will be done in time. The thread has been decided but not the pattern. That will be figured out as I go along. It will probably be a few weeks before I'm close to sharing it. It's not the only thing I've been tatting. 

Maybe that's why it will take awhile. 

"If you never change your mind, why have one?" 

                                                            Edward de Bono

Split RIng Cross Modifications and Mistakes

 I usually keep a few tatted crosses on hand for different occasions, like weddings, graduations, and funerals but my stash is low. About the time I was debating what crosses to tat I learned of the death of one of the members of our church. I had to quit procrastinating and make one. I decided to do my Split Ring Cross, but with a few modifications. 

Split Ring Cross

I changed the stitch and picot count on all the arms, lengthening them a bit. On this one I left off the long picot at the top and bottom to add the tassel to the rings instead of the picots. I like the overall look more than on the original pattern. 

This is actually the second cross I made. I made a bit of an oops on the first one. 

First cross

This cross is mostly the original pattern, except the long arm has one section with more picots. But it also has a mistake at the bottom, one of the rings is too small. It may or may not be all that noticeable, but I see it. This cross will be used in my Bible, but I won't be giving it away.

When I started on the second cross I had already decided that I'd lengthen the arms with a few more picots. I like the dimensions better.

Both crosses

Which one do you like better?

I'm not sure how I like it with the tassels added to the top and bottom rings without use of the picots. If I do it that way, I may have to make that ring bigger. Maybe.

Split Ring Cross finished

I give crosses to families that have lost loved ones as a way to acknowledge their grief and show my sympathy in times when I rarely have the right words. I pray that in some small way it helps them remember their loved one. 

 

I still need to make a few more crosses to have on hand. It is getting close to graduation time, though I'm not sure I know anyone graduating this year. Better to be safe than sorry. The crosses might not be this pattern, I haven't decided yet. 

I wasn't going to tat around any eggs for Easter this year, but that may change. I've been presented with a new challenge. We'll see how it goes.

"There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief." 

Aeschylus 

'Tis the Season

It was snowing little bitty flakes, the ground mostly bare, with snow showing on sidewalks and few other places when I started this post. It was cold and the wind blowing a bit, so I stayed inside to have coffee and tat.

Coffee and tatting

The tatting should be of Christmas things, don't you think? If you haven't already decorated for Christmas, you should start it now. Or at least decorate for Advent if you'd rather. I haven't even started! I've thought about it, but that's as far as I've gotten. I finally decided on a Christmas ornament for this year, but the going is not as smooth as I had hoped it would be. I keep finding problems with it. I made an edging for a Christmas runner as an alternative to working on the ornament.

Edging for a Red Truck runner

I found this runner a few years ago at a Dollar Tree in the more expensive aisle, for five dollars. I've been decorating with red trucks for a couple of years and thought this would be a fun addition to my house. I finally got it out this year. The middle of the edging is my Karmyn Edging then adjusted to be my vision of an edging for this runner. I see I didn't get the ends to lay flat, but I'll fix that. I had wanted the edging to be white-ish (to match the runner) or red, but the only color in size 3 from Lizbeth that I had was 703 River Blue Med.  The runner is made of tapestry material, and I didn't want to take up too much time on it as it's for me. My time should be spent on tatting the Christmas ornaments I plan to give this year, right?  Tatting this did get me more into the Christmas tatting spirit.

There was some non-Christmas tatting done. We had another funeral at our church, so I needed another cross. I made another modified Medallion Cross bookmark.

Modified Medallion Cross Bookmark

It has been so busy lately, and most likely to continue that way, that I have not written out the pattern yet. I don't think it will take long, I just need the time. Or to be more organized.

Are you tatting something special for the Christmas season?

"Yesterday's the past, tomorrow's the future, but today is a gift. That's why it's called the present."

Bil Keane

Autumn Tatting

 I've not gotten a lot of tatting done recently, but designing the maple leaf kind of makes up for it, I think.

I did a bit more designing recently, but it was sort of by accident. Another family in our church lost a loved one but I didn't have any crosses on hand to give them. The Medallion Cross bookmark drew my interest for this, but I thought I'd do something just a bit different on the arms. I just glanced at the pattern and took off. A bit more of the cross was changed than I planned, but it looks good. 

These have slightly different stitch counts. I like the one on the right, which is the second one I made. The rings of the arms are slightly larger than the ones on the left.

 

The pattern for the original Medallion Cross Bookmark is on My Patterns page. The modified version hasn't been completed yet. I'm not sure if I'll retain the name but make it v2 or change it. We'll see.

On a good note, I think I've figured out what I'm making for my Christmas ornament this year! I have to finalize the stitch counts, but I'm pleased with it. My husband thinks it's cute. 

Wishing you all here in the states a very happy Thanksgiving!

  

Gifts and Things

 Recently, I participated in a secret "get mugged" exchange with the ladies from the devotions group I'm in. Each of us filled out a short questionnaire about likes and allergies and such, then drew names. The gift was built around a mug, tumbler, or cup, and then a few miscellaneous things, nothing very expensive. Until the time of the exchange, the recipient did not know who the gift would be from. 

I drew a lady whose favorite color was green but did not specify a specific shade. Along with a few other items, such as large dark chocolate candy bar, I made a cross bookmark in two shades of green from my pattern, Split Ring Cross to include in the gift. 

We had just finished a book on Philippians, so I included this cute notebook, as well as a pretty cup, the chocolate, and a few miscellaneous items.

The day of the exchange I put everything in a gift bag and away I went. Without the bookmark or the notebook. I had to give them to her later. This was a week later after church service when everyone was busy going home. She didn't have time to look at it, I'm hoping she likes it.

I've been doing a lot of running around lately, with some time to tat but not anything that takes concentration. I've started taking a few buttons with me to tat around as I go places. They are easy, don't take up much space, can be done in any color, and can be used later.

I've been trying to decide what I'm doing for Christmas ornaments this year but haven't come up with an answer yet. My sister is already working on hers, and they look great! I think my problem is I always try and come up with a new pattern of some sort. This takes a bit longer than using something that is already out there. I guess it's only October. I still have time, right?

The Lacemakers Guild of Oklahoma had a Lace Embrace event October 4. As it is only a few hours away I had hoped to go this year. Their theme was "Teatime with Lace and Pearls." My sister and I even had our hats picked out - what's a tea party with pearls but no hats? But it was not to be. Family things came up for both of us, making it impossible for us to go. It sounded like so much fun! I love the theme! I'll be looking for it next year. If you'd like to see what they did at the event, check out their Facebook page.

We have had a lot of moisture this year, and milder temperatures than the last several years. We've had so much rain that my plants - and the weeds - have bloomed more and longer than I've ever seen them! I had seven or eight Hen and Chicks plants bloom, and one is still blooming!

Up until a few years ago I didn't even know they bloomed! I guess I'm doing something right.

Can you believe that October is half over? The year has flown by. I haven't done any fall tatting at all yet. I may or may not get any done, I should be working on Christmas stuff. Let's see what I end up doing.

"Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world. Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak. Try adding some bright colors to the picture by including humor, and your picture begins to lighten up."  Allen Klein

Australian Adventure Vacation Bible School

Our church's Epic Australian Adventure vacation Bible school was a big success! We are a rural church in the middle of several small towns, with children coming from miles around. We were excited to welcome 40 children, most not from our congregation.

We decorated the fellowship hall the Sunday afternoon before VBS started the next Monday evening. We got our ideas mostly from the Internet. The decorating crew was members of our congregation, including some of the kids. They were so excited to help, and for us to use their ideas.

    

This was the main wall. The kids chose where the silhouettes were placed. 

This was one of the trees in the classroom where I taught the Bible lesson of the day. 

This was the tree in the other corner. The 'stumps' were five-gallon buckets with paper on them, borrowed from another local church. These were the seats for the kids. We did get a few comments that they weren't that comfortable.

I dressed as their adventure guide. 

This corner of the room represented the Great Barrier Reef. 

The sign-in table was decorated with bamboo. They have bamboo in Australian, right?

My granddaughter made pipe cleaner chameleons for me. I moved them around every day.

One of the local libraries had this cute cardboard camper they let us borrow. Everyone liked how this corner came out. The kids loved having their pictures taken driving the jeep.

The first lesson of the week was how God called Moses with the burning bush. The kids loved our burning bush - an electric 'fire'. A tabletop device with red and orange cloth 'fire' which was lighted, with a fan inside to make the cloth stand up and wave. We put fake leaf garlands around it. It looked amazing!

We had a great week. The kids were enthusiastic and enjoyed the activities and the singing. From listening to them talk to their parents on the final night they got a lot out of their time spent with us. They went home excited about what they had learned and singing the songs that went along with the lessons. Some were already asking if we were going to do it again. 

I'm not sure how much like Australia we made it look, but it definitely was different than normal! We even left the decorations up for the next Sunday so the rest of the congregation could see them, too. 

Putting on the VBS was a lot of work, but well worth it. I'm just glad I won't be in charge next year!

I didn't tat much at all that week because I was so busy. I didn't even get to the earrings I wanted to make. Instead of having the kangaroo charms with tatting, I wore just the charms. Unfortunately, what I did tat was for sympathy cards. I made a second cross due to another death in our congregation. 

I am back to having time to tat and have started several projects. Nothing to show yet, but I'm excited about them.

I just saw yesterday that the Lacemakers Guild of Oklahoma posted about their annual Lace Embrace in Dewey, Oklahoma on October 4th. My sister and I are planning to go. It sounds like fun!

"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 ESV Bible

 

Christmas Bells

 While I have been busy with vacation Bible school issues, my sister, Elaine, has been tatting for Christmas. You know how it is, if you are making Christmas ornaments or gifts, you have to start way early to get them done in time. My sister has been looking over patterns to use for her ornaments for several months already. She decided to use my Christmas Bell pattern for some of them. (I'm very flattered).

Check out these cute bells! She added charms that reflect the interest of the different recipients instead of jingle bells. I love how they look with the charms. 

Elaine has also been trying out my Christmas Ornament 2023, which incorporates charms or beads, too. We have been searching through our beads to see what we have between us that she might like to use. The ones she has shown me look great.

Elaine has had time to tat, I've been too busy to do much. After the vacation Bible school - which went great! - I've had other things I have been busy with, keeping me from doing much tatting. I did take the time out to tat a cross for a friend of mine whose father died a couple of weeks ago. Some things are important enough you just take the time to do.

I made my Graduation Cross again. I like the look and it's easy to do. 

I'm now doing post-vbs work - making sure all the thank-you notes are written, organizing all the receipts, figuring out what to keep and what to get rid of by recycling or donating, and cleaning up the mess I left of my desk. I'll be sharing pictures soon. Not of the mess, of the vbs decorations, lol!

"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."    Dwight D. Eisenhower

Bookmarks, Old and New

I am back to tatting, though mostly bookmarks. I have had several requests for bookmarks, not anything particular, which means I get to make whatever I want.

                                                  Simple split ring bookmark

I made this simple split-ring bookmark on request from a friend as a gift to one of her friends. Both were happy with the result. I’m glad, because I almost forgot, and this was simple enough that it didn’t take me long. I did get the color right!

                                                      January 2025 bookmark

I was contemplating what I should do for another bookmark, so I started doodling. I’m not too sure about this one, though I’ve started another similar one. I’ve changed the stitch counts and the ring counts but using a top very close to this one. I’ll see if I like it any better.

I recently realized how far behind I am in writing some of my patterns. I was asked for the pattern for the Iris Cross Bookmark. I had previously been asked about this pattern but I never finished it. So, I am back at it. My apologies for those who have been waiting.

                                                     Iris Cross Bookmark 2025

I had been debating what stitch counts I would use for it back in 2023, and I’m still debating. I guess if I’m having trouble deciding what I should make next this is as good as anything.

I was also asked about the Wine Cork Angel Wings, such as thread size, wire size, bead size. I updated the pattern on My Patterns page.

Now, back to the patterns.

“You usually have to wait for that which is worth waiting for.” Craig Bruce

Luther's Rose 2024

In October of 2017 I shared my version of Martin Luther’s Rose. Martin Luther designed the seal on or about 1530 to represent his theology. It is commonly used to represent the Lutheran church.

Luther Rose 2017

I was on a short timeline when I made this. I speak about my motivation in my post “Luther’s Rose” from October 2017. I mentioned I would like to make it again but with a few changes. I started thinking about it again a few weeks ago. I started writing out the pattern as I had made it then, but decided now would be a great time to make a few of the changes I had thought about back then.

The cross is the same as I made it seven years ago – but I am thinking about modifying it slightly. Maybe. It is done in Lizbeth black HH20604. This is an easy cross to make and writing out and diagramming the pattern didn’t take long.

The heart is almost the same as it was originally, just with a different stitch count to make it slightly bigger. I haven’t finished diagramming it yet, but it shouldn’t take long. There are several heart patterns out there that are similar, but I don’t think they are quite the same. I made it in the same color as last time, in Lizbeth Christmas Red HH20671.

The white rose part is where I started to make changes. I thought before that the petals were not defined enough. They are this time! I used Lizbeth Snow White HH20601.

After changing so much of the rose I needed to make changes to the leaves. I used Lizbeth Kelly Green HH20713. This is a brighter green than what I used last time. And they look a lot more like leaves.

Making such changes to the center, the blue rounds definitely needed to be updated. It took some time to figure out how to fill in the open spaces around the petals and the leaves and leave it smooth enough to have the gold rounds look round. By the time I reached the blue rounds I was so excited with how it was working out that I spent too much of my time on it instead of things around the house that needed doing. I should have posted Monday, but I was too intent on this! The blue is Lizbeth HH20707 Sky Blue Dark, and I think it’s the same as I used before.

When I reached the outside gold rounds I was on a roll! These rounds are easy, as they are chains only, but being the outside, they seemed to take forever! I almost stopped at two rounds of gold, but the third round gave it a much more finished look. I used Lizbeth Harvest Gold HH20699. (The picture of it on the Handy Hands site looks greenish – it is not! Maybe it’s my computer?)

Luther’s Rose 2024

Now I need to diagram it and get it ready to publish. I had hoped to have it done by the beginning of September, but obviously that didn’t happen. If I do it right, it should have a lot of copy and paste. Easy, right? That remains to be seen.

What do you think? Is this an upgrade or not?

“Symbols are powerful because they are the visible signs of invisible realities.” Saint Augustine

February Tatting

You know how life keeps happening? You go about your normal business and other things sidetrack you. Recently a young relative went through a sad event and I’m planning a sympathy package to send them as we are too far away to visit. We’ve also been invited to a wedding of some friends, which means a gift is needed. Emotional opposite ends of the happiness spectrum, right? It’s amazing how tatting can fit into both gifts.

I usually make cross bookmarks for sympathy gifts. My “Graduation Cross Bookmark” is simple and quick but still looks good. I started with that, then had an idea.

                                          Green Graduation cross with edging

Lime Green (Lizbeth #679) isn’t usually a color I think of for a sympathy gift, but it was on my shuttles from a different project. Though the green was size 20 I didn’t have any size 20 handy that looked even close to good with it, so I used a size 10 in Ocean Teal Dark (Lizbeth #65). I played around with stitch counts and developed this edging around the cross. I liked it, so I made one in the colors I had wanted to make it in.

                                             Blue Graduation cross with edging

The center of this cross is Country Turquoise Lt (Lizbeth #660) (I think! – I lost the label) in size 20, and the outside is River Blue Dark (Lizbeth #709) in size 10. I finished the edging, cut and hid the ends, and THEN noticed I goofed on the last chain. I’m pretty confident I can fix it without much trouble, but, we’ll see. I think it looks good otherwise.

I had to think a bit to come up with a wedding gift. Then I remembered that a while ago the bride and I were looking at tatting online when she saw one of the doves from Frivolite con sabor and loved it, so I purchased the “Dove of Peace” pattern. I have completed one dove and plan to make another, then frame them to give as a wedding gift.

                                           ‘Dove of Peace’ by Frivolite con sabor

This is a lovely pattern, and not hard to do, I just had to pay attention! This will be a lovely gift! The pattern is on Frivolite con sabor’s Etsy shop.

At the beginning of February, it occurred to me that Valentine’s Day was coming up. I didn’t know what I wanted to do for Valentine’s Day, but I wanted to do something, so I started making several of my “January Heart”. I added them to a can for a touch of room decor, but what else to do? I thought it would be fun to have a pin to wear.

                                                       “January Heart” pin

These hearts were tatted and then joined together with a bit of thread. You can see how fancy this pin ended up with that bare safety pin. LOL! It goes on and off of my shirt or jacket easily! I might make it a bit fancier for next year, but it worked for now.

Besides all this tatting, I’m staying on task writing out several patterns. I’m working on how to diagram a particular tatting technique. It’s quite challenging but also rewarding. I’m almost done with one, yay! 😊

“To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.” David Viscott

2024, A New Year

2024 is here, and it has been cold! And snowy! We’ve had more snow this winter than we’ve had in the entire two previous winters. Now, like most of the country, it is very cold! The thermometer reads 1º F but the windchill is currently -22º F. I think I’ll stay inside. I am glad that my dog doesn’t mind the cold.

Bonnie in the snow

Bonnie is a Corgi/Border Collie mix. She’s a bit taller than a Pembroke Corgi but still has pretty short legs. Getting around in the snow has been a bit of a challenge. She likes it, though.

While staying in the house, I’ve gotten quite a bit of tatting done. I’m working on a couple of patterns I submitted to Lisa Adams at Tatting Corner for her Tat Days in July. They are coming along nicely.

I’ve also been working on writing out the pattern for a square I did back in 2018. It’s been test-tatted but I haven’t quite finished the corrections yet.

Jubilee Square

The previously unnamed square is now Jubilee Square. When joined to other squares it makes a lovely mat. That will also be on the published pattern.

There are several January birthdays that I wanted to recognize with a gift, so made them cross bookmarks. The pattern for the Graduation Bookmark is on ‘My Patterns’ page.

Three Graduation Bookmarks

I’ve also been working on improving my tatting. I recently purchased a Clover Picot Comb so I can make even picots, especially long ones. I’m enjoying this gauge better than I have any other gauge I’ve tried. It’s actually kind of fun. Not that I’ll use it all the time, but when a gauge is needed, this will be my choice.

Using a picot comb

I’ve also been playing with different tatting techniques. Natalie Rogers, on her Tat Your Own Adventures FaceBook page, has put out a tatting-related Bingo game with a PICOT card (instead of BINGO). There are several techniques on it that I have done before but could stand to review and practice. There are also a few that I’ve not done, including the Vapour (or vapor) stitch. I am so glad there are YouTube videos!

Vapour stitch practice

Trying new stitches opens up possibilities for pattern ideas. Thanks, Natalie, for the game!

(There are no links in this post, I receive nothing for mentioning products or services.)

I would have had this post done yesterday but I was way-laid by a book I started. I have to limit the books I read as I have a hard time putting them down until they are finished. Maybe it would be different if they were studious type books, of history, or of learning, but I mostly read stories that entertain me. Which isn’t bad, unless I don’t put them down. The worst of it is that reading a book keeps me from tatting. I do have audiobooks, but there is nothing quite like words on a page.

Do you have tatting plans for the new year? Any books you want to read?

“When you lose yourself in a book the hours grow wings and fly.”— Chloe Thurlow

Busy, Busy

I have been very busy the last few weeks, which put writing on my blog at the bottom of my to-do list. I have done some tatting but I have not gotten anywhere on writing out any patterns.

League track meets and tennis matches involving my grandkids meant I was traveling a lot trying to make all of them. There were also a few events besides these that were all-day affairs, leaving me tired and hot (or cold) and uninterested in doing anything after making it home.

One of my grandsons was just confirmed into our church. This is not a sacrament or a divine ordinance, but a public recognition of a person’s instruction of the Word and confession of faith. In our congregation, this ceremony is done when the person is about 14 years old, after several years of specific study. I made him my April’s Cross bookmark with modified ends to celebrate the occasion.

April’s Cross Bookmark for confirmation.

When making it this time I just didn’t care for the look of the ends of the original pattern. I like this better, but I spent an inordinate amount of time getting the stitch count to a place I was happy. I suppose at some point I may add this change to the pattern. My 14-year-old grandson was not all that impressed with this gift. I’m hoping that maybe someday he will appreciate it a bit more.

I haven’t been in the mood to do much in the way of starting or finishing my tatting projects, maybe too tired after all the events and traveling, but I did get some tatting done. The case on my phone is clear and plain. I’ve thought a bit of tatting would look good on it but have not done anything about it. The other day I ran across a ball of thread labeled Star Tatting Crochet in white/off-white. It looks to be smaller than size 40, maybe 70?

Old Star tatting thread

I tatted a small ring in the Star thread and another of the same stitch count in Lizbeth size 40.

Star thread comparison

It is definitely smaller than the size 40. I’m pretty sure that the old thread I’ve seen before was labeled 70, so I’m going with that. I made several doodles with it to see how it would look and fit in the phone case.

Phone cover with tatting

The tatting is not glued down to anything, but placed between the phone and the case. It is good the thread is so small as it causes the case to be not quite as tight to the phone as it is supposed to be. This allows the tatting to move a bit, but not much, and only in some circumstances. I’ll probably change the tatting in this if/when I come up with other ideas. This certainly changes the look of the case for the better and I’m glad I wasn’t too busy to try it.

“I don’t care how busy I am – I will always make time for what’s most important to me.” Kevin Hart

Making a few changes

I’ve been working on the ‘Iris’ cross bookmark I shared last week. I made a few tweaks as I worked on writing the pattern and tatted it again.

I tatted the original in size 10 thread, bigger than I usually work in. I saw the color and just knew I wanted to use it, and it was in size 10, so that was it. The cross came out the first time with minimal trouble. It ended up being six inches tall by six inches across, much larger than I think of as fitting in a normal book. I decided to make it in a smaller thread as I verified the stitch count.

Iris Cross bookmark in size 10

I usually tat in size 20 thread, which would make this cross smaller, but I thought that it might not make it small enough, so I made it in size 40. Which I don’t tat in much, either, so it took longer to tat it. But the end result is about what I was hoping for.

Iris v 2 in size 40

The center of the cross has a wonderful pattern, but I was concerned that handling it as a bookmark would be too floppy. I added a picot to the corner chains to make it less floppy. While tatting in the small thread the ends of the arms didn’t come out looking the same as the original so I changed up the stitch count a bit there as well.

Iris v 3 in size 40

On the next cross, I changed the stitch count at the ends of the arms again and they came out better, but I still wasn’t happy with them. The shuttle 2 clovers at the tips twisted a lot. This would be a problem if it were handled much.

Iris cross bookmark version 4

The fourth cross came out much better. The tips of the arms are more secure and less able to twist. I am also happier with the look of the ends. I’m wondering if I should leave off the picots I added to hold the center firmer. In the small thread will it be okay without them? I like the look better without that picot.

It is amazing how different the cross looks making it the two different size threads. What are your thoughts? Which one do you like best?

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.“ Alan Watts