'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

Hollow Heart

I have finished the pattern for ‘Hollow Heart’, the heart I shared last week. I know it’s a little late for Valentine’s Day, but it’s still February, so maybe not way too late?

                                                      Hollow Heart finished

I am happy with this heart. The pattern came together easily needing only a few tweaks to get it right. Now is the pattern written right? I hope so.

This is a small, easy pattern compared to the Iris bookmark. I’ve found if I save frequently while working on the pattern and stop if I start to have weird reactions – like not able to change something – to quit while I’m ahead. By saving frequently I don’t lose much and can start again later. The issue is probably with my computer, which I will have looked at as soon as possible. But I basically have to start the pattern over completely. This does not make me happy, but at least I think I can write it out without learning a new program. At least at the moment.

If you are interested in tatting this heart it is on My Patterns page as Hollow Heart.

Today it is crazy cold here with snow and wind. It’s hard to tell how much snow we actually got because it is blowing so bad, but we must have between five and seven inches. I am so blessed that we didn’t have to go anywhere today! The snow is over but the extreme cold will be here tomorrow yet. Today’s high was 2° with a wind chill of -14°, tomorrow morning is going to be much colder. My insulated coveralls are by the door, ready when I need them!

Are you suffering from the cold where you are? Or dealing with flooding? This is quite the winter we are having. Praying you all keep safe!

“The Eskimos had fifty-two names for snow because it was important to them: there ought to be as many for love.” Margaret Atwood

Dragons and Snowflakes

Jane Eborall has given us the complete pattern now for her 2022 TIAS. It became a very cute critter, Doris the Dragon!

Here be dragons!

It’s always a surprise to what Jane’s TIAS will end up being, but never a surprise at how much fun it is. I love this little dragon! I did have a few issues with it, that’s why there are two instead of one. I don’t know if it was a bad ball of thread, if it was stored badly and developed a problem, or what, but the thread kept splitting and I broke it several times. I also wasn’t careful enough when following the pattern and made several mistakes of one sort or another on each of these. A couple of times I backed up, took out the stitches, and fixed the problem. There was one mistake where that wasn’t an option, which is why I made a second dragon. But they came out so cute in Lizbeth #130 Island Breeze in size 20, mistakes and all! If you are interested in making one yourself, check out Jane’s Tat It And See blog.

I love Doris so much I’m already trying to make up my mind what threads I want to use on my next one. The completed ones are going to be on one of my shirts, I just have to decide how to position them.

Dragons on my shirt

When not tatting the dragons I’ve been tatting the Isla Snowflake trying to decide on the stitch counts. Several elements on the original had one stitch count in one place and a different stitch count in others, and I need to figure out which ones work best before I write out the pattern. I also tried something a bit different on the spikes. Which do you like better, the original or the newer version?

Isla original

Isla with different points

Today we are experiencing some real snowflakes and lots of wind. We have been fortunate to not have as much ice or snow as places to the south and east of us have. We had to make an emergency run to get coffee this morning and just a few miles from us it was a lot worse. We can use the moisture but that doesn’t mean I like what comes with it. But it gives me a good excuse to stay inside and tat!

Do you have (or need) an excuse to tat?

“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.” J. R. R. Tolkien

Tatting was done!

I’m still doing Jane Eborall’s TIAS, and it’s up to day 8. There have been a lot of guesses that it might be a seahorse, but after day eight’s installment, I don’t think so. Maybe a gecko? It’s fun guessing even if I don’t get it right.

TIAS day 8

I have actually gotten some other tatting done, too. I was in a bit of a funk with tatting, knowing I have several things I should be doing but not having the inspiration to do them. Doing small, simple things has gotten me back in the frame of mind to be creative.

I had some beads I picked up at Michael’s a week or so ago. I have been wanting to practice tatting with beads and these owl beads were an inspiration to do so.

Owl earrings

I used Lizbeth #122 Caribbean size 20 because I love the color. This is a simple use of beads, but you have to start somewhere, right? The owl beads were what I really wanted to do something with. There are several things I could do better and will do a bit differently with the next pair of these I make. I gave this pair to one of my daughters and want to give a pair to my other daughter as well.

I had plenty of the Caribbean on the shuttles to play with after the owl earrings. I want to review what I would fix/change before making another pair so thought I’d do something else. February and Valentine’s Day is coming up so hearts sprang to mind.

Doodle heart

This one was okay, but I could see it a bit differently shaped so I tried another heart with a bit of a change. I liked the change enough I made a pair of earrings.

heart earrings on music runner

Don’t they look good on this runner? My sister made this for me for my birthday. She told me about it while she was embroidering it because she thinks it will look good with tatted edgings. I think so, too. This is one of the things on my need-to-tat list.

While looking for shuttles I found a small piece of tatting I did some time ago. I can’t find a picture of it so I’m not sure how long ago I made it. I’m pretty sure I was just doodling again when I made it. Unless someone recognizes it?

Snowflake doodle

It looks kind of wonky, doesn’t it? I didn’t block it except for pulling it this way and that to make it lay nice. I decided I’d add another round, so found the thread I made it with and jumped right in.

Isla snowflake

This is made with Lizbeth #660 Country Turquoise Light in size 20. I like how it came out. I was fiddling with the chain length and the small rings as I was making it, so some are one size and some are another. But that is easy to fix. This is what happens when you don’t know what you’re doing when you start, LOL. I’ll have to try it again.

Today I’m working on another pair of heart earrings, this time in red as befits Valentine’s day. It was such a nice day the dog and I spent most of it outside. I did some tatting outside, too. I tried to get a picture of me with the dog, but she wouldn’t cooperate.

Tatting outside in January

Kansas has a wide range of winter weather, from mild to nasty. Today was mild and beautiful- sunny, light breeze, and 66 degrees F. How could I spend it indoors? But our nice weather is coming to an end tomorrow with nasty weather here by Wednesday.

Weather in Kansas January 31, 2022

Yep, it’s supposed to start snowing Tuesday night, keep snowing through Thursday morning, with wind chills in the -10 to -20 range. I could do without that. We are very blessed to usually not have as much bad, or cold, weather as other parts of the country, but it is winter. Six months from now I’ll be complaining of the heat, LOL!

“I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process.” Vincent Van Gogh

Decorated Grey Button

I’ve still not decided what project I’m going to do next, so I keep doodling. I doodled around most of the weekend without accomplishing a lot. A little, but not a lot.

I doodled with the grey button I started last week.

2nd round on decorated grey button

I thought on this a while before doing the second round, then gave it a try. The picots that attach the first round to the button on a bit loose making it interesting to block. It is still a bit frilly, which will probably correct itself with a little bit of water and a flat surface.

I started a couple of other doodles but didn’t get to a good stopping point on any of them. Maybe later this week I’ll get one of those done.

Like other parts of the country right now it is cold and white here. For the first time in years the temperatures are supposed to stay below freezing for over a week. The snow makes for some pretty pictures, if you can see them while in a nice warm place.

Black Kettle Creek in the snow

While I can I will stay inside and enjoy the white landscape and the cold from inside where it is warm and maybe get some tatting done.

Is it cold and white where you are?

“The Eskimos had fifty-two names for snow because it was important to them: there ought to be as many for love.” Margaret Atwood

Eggs, blooms, smoke and snow

I had a chance to decorate Easter eggs this week.  Nothing elaborate, but fun.

We didn't cook any eggs to color this year.  They have eggs at the store that look almost real, and all you have to do is decorate.  My daughter bought two dozen white ones for the kids to decorate.  I thought I was picking up the same thing except colored, ready for stickers or coloring. 

They were chalkboard eggs.  They even came with a package of chalk.

I used colored pencils instead.  Along with a bit of tatting, of course.

I had a lot of fun with these though I only finished three eggs.  I guess I have some to work on for next year.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned how many of the ornamental pear trees were blooming.  There are a few of those still pretty though most have greened to leaves now.  But the Flowering Crab Apple and Redbud trees are now in full bloom.

In the last week or so there was a hard freeze but it doesn't look like it did a lot of damage.  Well, I don't have a garden or fruit trees so I could be wrong, but there are a lot of trees and flowers still blooming.

This is a Flowering Crab Apple tree in my daughter's yard and it is beautiful!

The sky has been other than blue over the last week.  There have been several large wild fires in the state that created a lot of smokey skies and caused ash to fall miles from the fires.  The fires are very hard to contain when the wind is blowing 40+ miles an hour.

A smokey sunset seen from where I work in Wichita.  I missed being outside when all the ash was falling.

We finally got a little moisture Easter Sunday.  In the form of a beautiful snow fall.

The view from the bedroom window about 8:00 a.m. Easter morning.

This was about an hour later.  Check out that blue, blue sky!

It was a perfect snow.  The roads were clear, the snow only lasted for the day and it was perfect for making snow balls. It did mean that the grandchildren had their egg hunt in the house, but they didn't seem to mind too much.

This Friday, April 1st, is International Tatting Day.  The two ladies I get together to tat with, my sister, and I are planning to be at the Montana Mike's Steak House in McPherson for lunch.  We'll have our tatting and chocolate out and I know we'll be having a great time.  If there is anyone in the neighborhood that would like to join us there you would be quite welcome!  We plan on getting there about 11:30 a.m. and taking a long lunch.

What are your plans for ITD?

"If an egg is broken by an outside source, life ends.

If an egg is broken by an inside force, then life begins.

Great things happen from the inside."

Kamryn Edging

 I just love the material for this table runner.  I picked it up at JoAnn's when they had a lot of material on sale for 40% off.  There was lady there that was looking at fall-themed material at the same time I was. We liked so many of the same materials that we went to the cutting table at the same time so all of it could be cut for both of us while it was out.  We had a nice conversation while we were checking out the material. Fellow crafters can be pretty nice people.

 Kamrny Edging © Wanda Salmans 2015

This edging was the last one I did before the craft show and it wasn't supposed to go with this material.  But after finishing it and laying it with the other material it just wasn't going to work; both my daughters agreed with me.  The two edgings and materials were swapped and all looked much better for it.

Kamryn is a very easy edging, with only rings and chains.  Surprisingly it has no thrown rings, split rings or shuttle switching.  It went very fast, which is why it made it to the craft show. (It was the first thing sold, right at the start of the show). I think there are similar patterns out there but I was not following one when I made this, I just started and this is what came off the shuttles.

Kamryn Edging in Lizbeth Fudge Med # 698 & Harvest Orange Med #694

© Wanda Salmans 2015

I'm very happy with how this came out.  Sewing it on went much faster than usual because I took Michelle's advice to use invisible thread.  She had suggested to sew it on with the machine but mine wouldn't work. Maybe the tatting was too thick for the setting on the machine??  What-ever the problem, I had to do it by hand, but the invisible thread mostly made it go much faster even doing it by hand.   Why had I not tried this before???

The last couple of weeks had a lot of things happening around here.  About November 18th western Kansas had a blizzard and ended up with 20 inches of snow (that's a lot of blowing snow out there!); on the 19th we experienced a 4.7 magnitude earthquake that was centered in northern Oklahoma which I felt at our house north of Wichita (Kansas has felt 162 earthquakes in the last month); then abnormally high temperatures for several days, around 65ºF to 70ºF, then an ice storm over the Thanksgiving weekend (lots of power outages due to broken power lines and downed trees).  We are now experiencing pleasant temperatures and sunny skies, which I am thankful for.  

I'm not sure what to expect next from the weather or other natural phenomenon, but I do know what to expect next from me: I will be working on the Round Robin doily I'm doing on Craftree and things for Christmas.  

How about you?  What are you making?

"There is no "buy" there is only DIY"

Two Snowmen

I had an idea for a snowman the other day.

Snowman doodle  Wanda Salmans 2014

He was a bit of a pain to make - he didn't want to hold still to put on his hat or scarf!  And I lost the beads on the floor several times before he was done.  He remains alone - at least for the time being.  He might get a friend to be worn as earrings someday.

We'll see.

It snowed last week, a wet, heavy snow, just perfect for snowmen and snowballs. We had a couple of the grandchildren staying that day and they could hardly wait to get out in it.  The first thing were snow angels and then a snowman.  A carrot for a nose, charcoal for eyes and buttons, twigs as mouth and arms.  Papa brought out a hat and Grandma donated her scarf.  Then we couldn't go in without a snowball fight. It was so much fun!  The snowman lasted a couple of days, slowly leaning over but kept it together until the kids left.  A few hours later he lost his head, then the rest of him gradually melted away.

Have you built a snowman yet this year?

Two Snowmen

One inside, one outside,

One little, one big.

One lives for ever - or until he gets lost.

One lives a few days when he just melts away.

Both were made in just a short time,

For the length of their stay

They bring smiles to us all.

Wanda Salmans 2014

It's Tuesday

The 2014 TIAS continues

The most often guessed is a sail boat but I'm not sure, Jane can be pretty sneaky! (in a good way!)  Whatever it is we are more than halfway through.

I have been tatting but don't have pictures of what I've spent the most time on.  I do have this little piece made with Coats Cotton Machine Quilting thread.  I don't really have a plan for this piece but I had the thread with me (why? I found it in a drawer and stuck it in my box...) so thought I'd try working with it.

And it was very trying.  I usually tat with size 20 thread and I've got a project going in size 10, so working with this was quite a chore.  I would get about three rings and a chain done then break the thread on the next ring.  Today I very consciously made my stitches and pulled the rings closed very carefully. Success! The thread didn't break! 

Last week Tuesday I didn't have to go to work due to snow and bad roads.  We got somewhere between eight and ten inches by the time it was done.  And it hasn't melted yet!  Which is very unusual around here.  Then Sunday night we got another two inches.  But the sun is shining today and they say we'll get above freezing maybe tomorrow.  By Sunday it should be in the 60's (ºF) and the snow mostly gone.

I haven't been doing Tatting Tea Tuesdays much lately, not because I haven't thought about it but I've been drinking a lot of coffee instead of tea.  Including today.  But I did get some tatting done and I've found a blog that's all about tea cups!  If you also like tea and tea cups check out Artful Affirmations.  

                                                                              image from Pinterest

TIAS and ATC

TIAS - Tat It And See - Jane Eborall's annual fun-fest of teasing those of us in tat-land that choose to join with small snippets of a pattern every few days.  There have been some pretty fun guesses made by participants but is anyone right?  Only Jane knows!

TIAS Day 9

My TIAS through Day 11

What is it?

It started snowing here last night about midnight.  They are predicting that we could get upwards of 9 inches of snow today with blowing snow and frigid weather tonight and tomorrow. I didn't even open the door to take this picture.

 The view from my front door about 12:00 PM

Just got news that work has been cancelled for today - yeah!!

 ATC stands for Artist Trading Cards.  These are supposed to be no larger than 3½ inches by 2 ½ inches (the size of most any trading card, like baseball, hockey, etc, as well as most playing cards) and can be made of and with almost anything you want.  It's a small piece of art to be traded or given away, not sold, to other artists. Originally this was done at face-to-face events but a lot of people now organize swaps on the Internet and through the mail.  They are also sometimes used by artists to try a technique or idea on a small scale, kept instead of traded.

I have been admiring Singtatter's ATCs for sometime, but never tried any.  She and her friends do all sorts of different media and I haven't seen myself being that ambitious.  But I got to thinking the other day that I've enjoyed decorating the photo album covers and I had a lot of fun decorating the little bags.   And I have quite a lot of flowers, butterflies and birdies and such from emptying shuttles.  Hmm, it could be fun to decorate something small like ATCs.

So I attempted a few.

Tatting and colored pencils

Paper, thread and heart button - oops, no tatting!

Tatting, paper and ribbon
Dove pattern by JoAnn Stearns, 'Joy's Heart' pattern by Wanda Salmans

Originally I wasn't going to put that butterfly on this last one, I was going to write a few words.  And I messed up the few words.  So I had to cover them up.  Oh, well, this is just for me anyway, and I had fun doing it, so all is good.

These are very simple ATCs compared to many I've seen on the Internet, but now I have a lot more ideas to try.  What's funny is for some of these ideas I will have to do some tatting made special for them *hehehe*.  I suppose as fun is the main reason to do these that's not a bad thing.

"The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls."
Pablo Picasso
www.brainyquote.com

The birds and the - teacups

I so enjoyed decorating the small bag the other day that I have decided to do a few more.

Originally my idea was to have a shape in material as a background then decorate it with small bits of tatting and maybe a few buttons.  The idea with these was that they would be quick and easy to do.   

Sure.

I have the general idea for them, I just can't make up my mind for the particulars!

I thought this was a cute idea, but some of the 'snowflakes' look more like flowers.

I'm not sure they look 'finished' yet.  I think I still have a little work to do. 

Autumn has finally arrived here.

Looking out my backdoor.  I love the different shades of color in the trees.

This was just over a week ago when the trees were still almost completely dark green then. You can see how dark even through the snow.

Maybe I should decorate a bag with a snowbird...

"It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds."
Aesop
brainyquotes.com

Trying new thread

Odd Balls Yarn Shop is now carrying Oren Bayan Koton Perle size 8 thread.  My sister brought me a ball of it in a brown-to-tan variegated, color #187 (I think) to try.

I quickly tatted up this cross bookmark to try it out.  It's soft wound - as expected - so you don't want to make too many mistakes, but otherwise very nice to tat with, very easy on the hands. 

I stopped by the store later to check out the colors.  They have about a dozen right now but I understand it comes in 71 colors and they can get all of them, you just have to tell them.  The colors they have on the shelf are very pretty, very enticing!  Oooo, pretty thread right here within arms reach any time I come in - this could be dangerous (to my pocketbook!)

Is anyone else out there ready for spring to really be here?  We've had nice weather, then bad weather, cold weather - lots of cold weather - all since spring supposedly arrived.  Monday (April 22) we had heavy rain and wind, Tuesday we had snow.  Snow!  This broke the record in Wichita, KS for the latest measurable snowfall (measurable = at least .1 inch) with .2 inches.  The record was .1"  on April 20, 1889.  

 

I WANT A LITTLE WARMER WEATHER!

This year I am actually planning on planting flowers but the weather hasn't exactly been right for it. We did start a garden by putting in onions and potatoes, and the onions are up. It's been too muddy for me to go check on the potatoes, the onions we can see from a distance. This is the first time in about 20 years that we've attempted a garden of any sort, and we're not off to a good start. 

"Sometimes I wish that I was the weather, you'd bring me up in conversation forever.  And when it rained, I'd be the talk of the day."

John Mayer

http://thinkexist.com

Edging for a bag

I've been wanting to add tatting to one of these bags for myself for quite some time but never took the time to do it.  As you can see, I finally did it! 

The bag is a planetE by Eco-Stream from Wal-mart, brown with ecru lines, 17 inches wide by 14 inches tall (not counting the handles). The tatting is a size 10 thread in turquoise but unfortunately the label disappeared a long time ago and I don't remember the brand. The beads are from a container of mixed pink beads.  I used Fabric Fusion from Aleene's to glue the edging to the bag. I don't know how well it will hold but as this is for me I'll use the bag and find out just how good it is. 

The edging is a simple one I came up with, one that wasn't complicated and wouldn't take long to make.  I thought I had measured it to fit the top of the bag but miscalculated a bit.  I had to bow it down a bit to fit.  I see I didn't do a good job keeping it even when I glued it down.  I guess I'll just have to live with it that way.  Unless it comes off, then I guess I'll try to do better next time. 

After having little snow and mostly warm weather all winter - with temperatures around 50 and 60º F - we were hit with two major winter storms in less than a week.  At our house we got about a foot of snow last Thursday.  A lot of businesses as well as schools and church functions were cancelled, including the plant where I work.  Then Monday we had blizzard conditions with very wet, heavy snow and a forecast of another seven to twelve inches.  I wasn't looking forward to driving in it and ended up not having to - they cancelled work again.   Because it was right about 32º F the snow actually was melting almost as fast as it came down, so we didn't get as much measurable snow as predicted but we still got several inches that drifted.  

This picture is looking out my backdoor to the neighbor's yard Monday afternoon.  Pretty if you don't have to go out in it.  You have to understand, in this area we're lucky to get three or four inches of snow at a time, maybe all winter.  To get one storm with a foot of snow is pretty unusual - to get two within a few days of each other is very rare indeed.  We certainly can use the moisture, but oh, my, this much snow at once is ridiculous!   

FACT: Between the two storms Wichita, KS broke its record for the most snow in any month since records have been kept - since 1888 - with 21 inches, 14.2" in the first storm and 6.8" in the second storm.

I did get some tatting done yesterday afternoon while I was home but no pictures yet.  I didn't get as much done as I was hoping to, but more than if I had gone to work.  And I actually finished something!

"When it snows, you have two choices: shovel or make snow angels."

Another Keeper

Scissors keeper in Lizbeth #142 Turquoise Twist in size 20

I'm rather pleased how these came out.  More pleased with the scissors fob than the badge reel motif, but happy with both on the whole.  

You might remember that last week I was working with purple LBH size 40 thread.  I had the keeper made and was working on a fob for the scissors.  Wellllll, I'm not sure if it was because the thread was old or because I'm so used to working with size 20 thread, but the thread kept breaking.  It was getting so frustrating that I had to move on to a different thread.  Turquoise Twist wasn't it. 

I had chosen Caribbean thread in size 20 and some pretty beads in those shades that would have looked really nice.  I was over at my sister's house and showing her the thread I was going to use - and left it there.  So instead of going back to get it right away I just chose another thread. 

I liked the fob enough that I made one for my crochet hook as well.  I got all the way around to the last chain to finish it off and found that I had made a mistake almost at the beginning.  It looks strange, it can't be fixed. I think I'll finish it and and use it like it is until I make another one.  

This isn't the first fob pattern I tried.  I didn't really like the first try - parts I liked, but I didn't like the end result.  So I tried again. 

, 

First fob try in FBH size 40 thread. It's almost the same color as Lizbeth #633 Dark Purple.  The motif was the start of the motif I used in the Turquoise Twist, but the purple kept breaking.  I think that might have been a good thing, because I do like my second try better, much better.

The original keeper?  I'm using it for my badge at work. ☺

Today for Tatting Tea Tuesday I had a cup of Vanilla Rooibos with a bit of Wild Berry Zinger added. It was pretty good.  I'll definitely be drinking hot tea tomorrow.  It was 65° F Sunday and tomorrow we are supposed to get several inches of snow and maybe sleet and ice, too.  Oh, joy. 

"A little snowflake falls from the sky

Like a new kid moves to a new junior high

Different and unique like everyone else

Who will notice except for itself?

No one will watch, no one will see

How amazing and unique this thing may be

So next time it snows just look down

And watch to see what can be found"

A. Phinney - 8th Grade

http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cxtdm/met/snow/snow_quotes.html