Practice Points

I’ve been busy with many things other than tatting over the last few months as you can probably tell by my lack of blogging. I’ve thought about trying to post more often, then something else comes up. Then I lost the habit. So let’s see if I can find it again.

I had planned to go to the zone meeting of our LWML and was working on the earrings of the logo. I didn’t get to go to the meeting but I still like the earrings. Marie, from West Pine Creations, was so sweet and sent me earring wires that are easy to change out so I can wear them.

LWML logo with changeable earring wires

You might notice that the two earrings are not quite the same. I had a pair with the gold wires Marie sent me, which I wore, then put in a safe place. So safe I don’t remember where I put them. I know they didn’t go far. These two are my practice pieces, working out what stitch count I liked best. I would have made me another pair but ran into a bit of a setback.

A bit of a setback

The ball of Lizbeth #HH20641 Lilac Dk thread somehow got tangled badly. It might have something to do with being put in my purse and it getting out of the bag it was in… I wasn’t about to cut off and toss if I could untangle it, but that did put me off of working with it for a bit. So I started something else.

I still can’t get the points of the hearts to look the same every time so thought I would practice the SSSCh (suspended chain). You have to have a chain to practice it, so I made something with chains.

12-point SSSCh practice

I had a shuttle with Lizbeth Twirlz HH20403 Winter Ice that was left over from something or other so I used it. I came to the conclusion this wasn’t the best choice for this type of practice. It isn’t always easy to see the stitch count with this type of thread. But once I started I finished it. I do see an improvement.

When this was finished I liked the look so much I thought I’d do it again. It reminds me of a flower so the next one was made to look more like one.

12-pt SSSCh flower

As you might notice, I did get the Lilac Dark untangled. I didn’t spend a lot of time blocking this, just enough to have it lay flat. The petals are a bit uneven-looking that might be alleviated with better blocking though it looks good the way it is. The yellow thread is Lizbeth #HH20616 Daffodil Med.

(Has anyone else noted that Lizbeth thread numbers now indicated the size? The balls of thread I have don’t have the HHxx before the color number but I like how it is in the catalog. Makes it easy to know you have the size you want.)

Our life has maybe slowed back down a bit but I can’t say it’s back to normal. My husband has just changed shifts at work. We used to be able to drive together and see each other a lot. Now, it’s just in passing most days. This is a temporary change, at least for now. We’ll see how things go. And I’ll see if I get more or less things done with more personal time on my hands, LOL.

‘Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.‘ Anton Chekhov on brainyquote.com

Bits and Butterflies

I’ve been doing a lot of practice on different techniques lately.  Some of it is for Tat Days in September and some is just because.  I haven’t gotten all of them right yet, but I’ve had fun working on them.

Tatted bits of practice

The Clunies on the right I’m working on because there are a couple of classes I’m taking that call for them.  After a lot of practice they are getting easier.  I’m looking forward to learning hints and tricks about making them while at Tat Days.

Those funny looking flowers in the center?  I was trying my hand at Daisy Picots and Dandelion Picots.  Jane Eborall has instructions on her tips and techniques page.   Of course I rushed into making them before I looked them up.  My flowers came out okay and I had fun making them, but they aren’t made per Jane’s instructions.

I also played around a bit with pearl tatting – to remind myself how it’s done – and with using fancy embroidery floss.  I’m not too happy with the results with the floss.  If I really needed to use it for a project I’d work with it more and do better.

Tatted butterflies for Tat Days

Part of my getting ready for Tat Days is emptying the thread from a bunch of shuttles.  I’m going to be needing them for new projects!  What better way than to make butterflies and donate them at Tat Days?  They give them away at their State Fair – isn’t that a great idea?  I’m sure I’ll have a few more for them before I get there.

I’ll be taking my entries in to our State Fair next week.  They are not what I would like them to be but I’m taking them anyway.  Over the last several years there have been fewer and fewer entries at the fair and I don’t want the category to disappear.  I’ll be taking pictures of them soon (I hope) and sharing them later.

I’m getting ready for the Kansas State Fair and Tat Days.  What are you getting ready for?

“Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.” Henry Ford

Trial and Error

The green mess there in the front?  My attempts at adding a bead to the center of a ring. I watched Marilee's  video found on her blog, which is very clear and easy to follow, but mine look pretty sad.  This doesn't show all the rings I broke when trying to close them, just my semi-successful attempts.  I finally decided that if that wasn't working to try something else, namely trying it with split rings.  This is working much better.  Maybe when I get a little more comfortable with the technique I'll have better luck with the single-shuttle version. I can dream. 

Speaking of Marilee, have you seen her magnificent Nouveau necklace?  If you haven't seen it yet you really need to go check it out!

I've been working on the pattern for the latest version of barefoot sandals, trying to write out on paper what I did in thread.  My problem is habit -when I tat I don't think about what shuttle to use, as, this is shuttle #1 and this is shuttle #2, or even this is the pink and this the yellow, I just see which way I want the tatting to go and without thinking too much about it use the shuttle and technique to go that way. Which means when trying to write it out I'm totally lost on when to change shuttles.

I remember seeing how Fox used high-lighters to help her follow a pattern and thought I'd give it a try, too. I  loaded two empty shuttles with thread, added what I  hoped was enough beads and started trying to follow the pattern I jotted down, coloring the lines with the appropriate color as I went.  Coincidentally, the two high-lighters I happened to find were the same colors as my shuttles - how cool it that?   Now to consciously notice which shuttle I am using and mark the paper. So far it seems to be working well. I am, of course, correcting errors as I go and trying to note bead placement and use as well.  I don't often use beads and I think this is the first time I've made them an integral part of the pattern. Lots of new things to try documenting!

I was hoping to have the pattern done by today, but it didn't happen. I still have quite a ways to go.  I'm going to try hard to have it ready to post by next week, but it all depends on how much time I have to work on it. 

Today for Tatting Tea Tuesday I'm enjoying a cup of peach tea.  I'm going to make a second cup now that I'm done with this post and try to get some tatting done. I think I'm going to work on putting beads in the center of the ring again, take a break from the computer for a while.  The pattern work can wait just a little :-)

"I have failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed."

Michael Jordan

brainyquote.com

Designing Practice

This week I sat down at the computer and tried drawing an idea I have.

I'm getting much better at it. Each time things come a little easier. Some of the things I learned in the Design-Tat class suddenly comes clear. I have these "A-ha!" moments as I'm working, as what was in our lessons finally make sense.

This is a mini bookmark done as a sample to see how well I could tat the drawing I made. There are a couple of things I plan on changing, but overall I very happy with it. I'll have to try a full-length version next.

I've also been working on diagramming the heart bookmark. It's coming along very well. I'm at the really hard part of it - adding the stitch counts and notations for ring directions and such. I've never thought so much about the placement of such notations before! It's a bit more complicated than Elcie was.

For Tatting Tea Tuesday I had a glass of iced Peppermint tea as the temperatures have decided to be summer-like, as in, hot! It was okay, but not as good as it is hot. Of course it might have something to do with me cutting down on my sugar. I've gotten used to hot tea with less sugar but iced tea should have lots! No, I'm not from the south and here in Kansas the restaurants have just recently started advertising they have sweet tea. But I grew up with it. My dad and his family always drank sweet tea and that's what I expect. Trying to cut back on sugar doesn't mean I don't add sugar, just a lot less. I'll see if I can keep it up.

"Do you really think God wants us to live a vanilla-bland life when He's made a thirty-one flavors world? God wants us to color our world with rainbow colors and Willy Wonka flavors. Sure, playing it safe can make things easier (and duller), but branching out - even a little - can make life fuller (and more fun)." Rachel St. John-Gilbert