Distracted

My bead tray is now all cleared and put away.  I made a tasbih for my mother, and a little beaded heart.  The heart pattern is from 3dbeading.

I hid the ends and pressed the two completed rounds of the mystery doily and decided it was done.  It's a decent size to put under a vase and I've run out of thread.  I contemplated getting more, but going through my thread stash convinced me that I have too much thread.  So I am starting again, with different thread.  I've actually made decent progress on my third try, but no pictures yet.

I've cleared most of my small piles of random craft supplies and was planning to tackle my sewing basket.  However, I got some new toys in the mail and got distracted.  These are little fabric flowers made with Clover Kanzashi flower makers.  So now, I have another little pile of unfinished items.  Sigh.

Simple tatting

A few months ago, I was asked for a tatting project suitable for a do-it-yourself project.  To be honest, I think tatting is skill.  It takes time to learn and isn't all that suitable for quick project.  Still it got me thinking about simpler forms of tatting.

Here's the simplest thing I could think of to tat.  It's a card with tatted flowers.  I think these are good for using up thread scraps and for playing with picot sizes.

I also wanted to make something with simple rings and chains; something that could be tatted with a paper shuttle using any kind of thread.  These book marks are the result. From the top, these are made with pearl cotton size 8, Cebelia size 20 and embroidery floss.

I must have been feeling industrious because I actually scratched out a diagram for these.  Here's the proof.

The mystery doily continues.  I actually finished round 2 with my variegated thread.  Unfortunately, round 3 didn't work out.  I'd planned to switch to a different colour of pearl cotton thread from my stash.  It seems that not all pearl cottons are created equal, so round 3 had smaller stitches than round 2.  The whole thing looked bad, so out came the scissors, snippety snip snip.  Ah well, time to come up with another plan.

Also ongoing is my quest to clean up my piles of random craft supplies.  Here's the next pile to tackle: my overflowing bead tray.

Around the neck

I've been making things that go around the neck lately.  It's rather strange because they take sooooo long (necks being much bigger around than wrists).  Perhaps I am in a patient mood.

This one is a vintage pattern from an Anne Orr book. There are two little mistakes in there that are driving me nuts.  I may end up making another one in pure white, just to correct the mistakes.  I'm not sure I'll ever feel 'girlish' enough to wear this one.

Here's a little beaded and braided necklace.  This one is light enough I may actually wear it.

Buyer beware

I bought these silver seed beads, added some turquoise beads from my stash and made this bracelet.  This is actually one of two.  The second was a gift to a friend.

I didn't realize until later that these are galvanized beads and that they're known to lose their finish.  I tried spraying them with acrylic coating to keep the finish.  My friend (the recipient of the second bracelet) told me that the finish peeled off a bit on hers.  I felt really bad and apologized, but she told me it's OK.  She just takes it off when doing housework so it will last longer.

So I've learned two lessons here.  First, it's nice to have understanding friends.  Second, if I'm going to do more beadwork, I need to learn more about my materials.  Buyer beware.

So-so soutache

Soutache jewelry is on my list of things to learn this year.  I'm waiting for this book and this book to come out.  While I wait, I'm googling for tutorials.  The best way to learn is to try.  So here's my second attempt, loosely based on a tutorial by Anneta Valious.

I'm trying to keep my enthusiasm in check, so I'm sticking to what's in the stash.  There's still much room for improvement.  Still, it got a compliment from an unusual source.  My little guy (aged 8) thinks it looks nice.  It's always nice to get compliments from the opposite sex.

New Year 100th post

It's a new year, it's my 100th post and I don't know what I'm going to do with the blog this year. Ah well, perhaps I'll do a crafty roundup.

This is step 1 in Jane Eborall's 2013 TIAS.

Next is, Susan Fuller's Heart's Desire, done in response to the Malaysian Tatters January challenge.  It's a lovely pattern, marred by my careless joining.

This is a little snake knot bracelet done with satin cord.  I'm still trying to figure out how to finish the ends neatly.

Here's a soutache hairclip.  I'm planning to learn soutache jewelry making this year. There are some new books coming out. I like it because it reminds me of the Chinese frog closures my mother used to put on the baju kurung she made me as a kid.

Here's more jewelry. This is a spiral rope chain.  I nearly went mad with boredom trying to make 60cm (2 feet) of it.  I kept at it because it used up the stash and will go well with one of my favourite tops.

Next is another necklace.  It's a crochet chain, with plastic beads and metallic thread.

Here are some more stash busters; a knit garter stitch bag and some stackable cats from Mochimochi Land.

The cats were meant for my baby niece, but the big cat is super squishy, so now my kids fight over it.  Sigh.

German heart

I was surfing and came across alamonabeads blog.  I was smitten with the heart, found the pattern and discovered it was in German (Rollendes Atelier).  The free patterns had lots of diagrams, so I crossed my fingers and ordered a kit.  I figured if I can work Japanese tatting patterns, I can figure German beading diagrams.

The kit got here last week.  After a few false starts and consults with Google translate, here's the result.

There's a ribbon tied slap-dash on it because I was determined to wear it today, TODAY!  So, I've been jaunting through KL with a heart on a ribbon tied around my neck.  I don't know if I looked good, but I was certainly happy!

Blocking blunders

I finished the Nora Benporath doily. It's been a while since I've worked on a traditional doily with a smaller thread, so I was not as careful as I should have been with joining picots and long chains.  So, blocking was painful.

I ironed it.  It looked wonky.  I laid it out between napkins and stacked books on top.  It still looked uneven.  Finally, I grit my teeth and pin blocked.  It wasn't perfect, but it looked OK.  Then, the little lady grabbed it, said it was pretty and crumpled it in her little hand so she could carry it around.  I nearly cried.  I can't bear to pin block again, so here it is.

On a happier note, her are some more hair clips.  They're like potato chips; I can't seem to stop at one.

 
The heart pattern is from My Daily bead.  The bottom ones are beaded bezels.

Hair, hair, hair clips

The hair clips continue.  I'll just keep making these until I run out of clips.

These are little beaded balls I learned to make from MyDailyBead. I got a headache learning to make these as learning from videos drives me nuts. Still, these are so cute, I can't stop making them.

These crochet flowers with rose buttons are the little lady's current favourite. They match her preschool uniform nicely.

The next three were a birthday gift for one of my daughter's dance class friends. The blue flowers are crochet with gold buttons.

The ballerina is a crochet applique from EverLaughter. I showed it to the little lady as I put it in her friend's gift bag. Then I had to make a solemn promise that I'd make one for her.

The last set are these spiky paper bead clusters. They remind me a bit of durian.

 

The lace mat is coming along.  I'll get a picture for the next post.

Beads and tatting

I've been learning to make tat beaded turtles, and it's been a lot of fun, but I'm not comfortable sharing on the blog, so no pictures.  The tat beaded turtles have got me interested in other types of bead work.  Here's what I've been making.

These are cheap plastic crystals with beaded bezels put on them.  I love it when cheap material and a little craftiness make for such a fun result.  I haven't decided what to do with them yet.  Hair clips? Brooches?  Fancy buttons?

The doily progresses, stitch by monotonous stitch.  I've reached the final row, and I'm struggling with the thread colours.  This is hand dyed thread, made by my kids the last time the dye pots were out.  There is no more to be had, so I have to mix and match as I can.  We'll see how it turns out.