Drowning in deadlines

I think I will make that title a recurring theme.  Being a free lancer is a great way to have time with your kids, but it can be feast or famine.  Right now, I'm festing on work, starving for crafty time.

Before the deadlines got me, I was happily following along with Jane Eborall's latest TIAS.  I only just finished it last week and got the ends woven in yesterday.

The blue is Altin Basak metallic polyester as recommended by Jane Eborall.  It's just as nice as she claims.  Unfortunately,  I've beeen told by a Turkish supplier that the thread is now discontinued.  The silver is another brand of metallic polyester.  It isn't nearly as nice. I have some Oren Bayan that feels about the same as the Altin Basak although I haven't managed to tat with it yet.  Unfortunately, it's about twice as expensive.  Sigh, why do cheap, good things get discontinued?

There was still some thread on the shuttles, and I had some beads from a bracelet the little lady broke. So I'm working on this little split ring bracelet.  I'm not sure I like the effect.  The thread's a bit too skinny to balance the beads, and stiffness of the thread makes the picots look spiky instead of loopy.  Still, the little lady is small enough that it will only take a few more repeats to fit her.  I think I'll just finish it off for her to wear.

25 motif challenge, 2nd round

After a bit of thought I think I'll try the 25 motif challenge again this year.  There are so many more tatting designs I want to try, and the challenge is a great motivator.   I'll start simply with these 3 white snowflakes done in DMC Cordonette Cordonet Cordonnet 40.  I have a box full of different weights of the stuff, and yet when I try to type the word, I have to look up the spelling... every... single... time...  Sigh, spelling is not my strong point.

Oh well, back to the snowflakes.  These are 'Spring Blossom', 'Sunburst' and 'Pirouette' from Jon Yusoff's snowflake book.  Sue, one of the nices commentors around, left a note saying that she liked the 'Astral' snowflake.  I agree with her, so far, 'Astral' and 'Pirouette' are my favourites.

Three more snowflakes and I'll have worked my way through the book.  I find these snowflakes so restful, yet satisfying.  What will I do when they're all gone?

Motif 22-25: A day late

It's been a year and a day since I started my 25 motif challenge, and I've only just finished my last 4 motifs. It seems I haven't changed much since I was a freshman; slacking off for a whole semester, spending the last few days cramming, then asking for an extension :)

Still, it's been a lovely experience. I've come into contact with many kind, helpful and talented people. Perhaps, if I can manage to grow up a bit, I can try again this year.

Motif 22: Suncatcher 3 (this one's a garden)

This is the third and final window picture from the Burda tatting book. The original is all white (a winter garden). Mine is a spring garden, made in DMC Cebelia 20.

Like any garden, it required some pruning (cutting thread ends) and watering (wet blocking) to look presentable. Here's how it looked before the pruning.

Motif 23: Choker 2

I made another choker using Jon Yusoff's wrapped rings. This one is the Kejora motif (DMC 80, 1.5cm rings, size 11 delica beads). I'm auditioning ribbons again. I think I'm leaning toward the black this time.

 

Motif 24: Approachable lace

This edging is from Tatting Lace (by Sumi Fujishige). It's done in DMC Cebelia 30. It's approachable for a few reasons. First, it's a pretty straightforward pattern. It only uses rings and chains, and with a slight change in working order, it's possible to do a motif in one pass, no cutting.

It's also approachable for non-tatters. I tat in public and I'm often asked 'What are you going to do with it?'. This edging looks like a normal bit of lace, so instead of asking 'What are you going to do with it?', people would make suggestions like 'Oh, this would look pretty on a sleeve! You could put this on a scarf.'

It's made up of little motifs, so most of it sits in a ziplock bag while I work on the latest piece. People would pick it up and model it, wrapping it around a wrist or laying it along a hem.  So it is indeed an approachable bit of lace.

Motif 25: Beaded necklace

This is Nina Libin's Kaethe necklace. It's done with DMC metallic embroidery thread. I don't hate this thread. I don't like it either. There are a multitude of errors in this because I find beaded tatting VERY VERY DIFFICULT. Thankfully, the sparkly beads do a good job of hiding the mistakes.

Motif 21: Plain sized snowflakes

I have chunky snowflakes and tiny snowflakes, so these are just plain medium sized snowflakes.

These are from Jon Yusoff's snowflake book. The first is Oasis in Anchor perle 8. The second is Floret in the DMC perle 8. The last is Astral done with 3 strands of metallic embroidery thread, 2 blue one silver. Next time I use the metallics, I won't mix colours. The effect is more heathered instead of sparkly.

Motif 20: Christmas rose

This design is called Rose du Noel so this seemed like the best day to show it. It's by the immensely talented ElisaduSud, translated and diagrammed by the equally talented and generous Mimi Dillman.

 

It's done in DMC perle 8. I'm rather disappointed with this thread. It's pricier than the Venus crochet cotton I normally get, so I expected better quality. Instead the dye doesn't go to the core of the thread, so little white blips show through.

I was making these clunies privately, in the wee quiet hours of the morning. I was getting comfortable, so I popped it into my bag to tat-on-the-go.  This was a bad idea. Let me show you...

Clearly, my clunies aren't quite ready for public life.

Motif 19: Rings for a choker

I love the internet. It gives you an opportunity to see different interpretations of the same design. I little while ago I saw a lovely pair of 5 point rings turned into earrings by Mary Robinson. I'd already started the same design, but seeing hers was encouragement to keep going.

To recap, this is Jon Yusoff's Melati design for her Tatting on Rings book. This version is done in DMC 80 tatting cotton. The ring is 1.5 cm in diameter.

The idea is to sew them on to a ribbon and make a choker. Right now I'm deciding which ribbon to use; green and cheerful or black and elegant. Right now, I'm leaning toward the green.

This last picture is for Claudia. She left a nice comment about my thimble rings. This was meant for Chloe Patricia's photo sharing, but was a bit late. I don't know if this is a positive or negative example (this isn't my best stitching). I suppose it's meant as encouragement (hopefully) for anyone wanting to make one.

Motif 18: Suncatcher 2 (perhaps a snowflake)

This is the second window picture from the Burda tatting book done in DMC Cebelia 30. It would look better mounted, but I can't find the right size ring.

This motif has a bit of a sad story to go with it. I was working on it while riding in the car. When I got out, I thought my tatting was safely in my bag. Unfortunately it wasn't. It fell out of the car and got left behind. It's a split ring design and I was in the middle of adding new thread, so I lost not one, not two, but three shuttles.

That's not even the worst part. The worst is that two of them were English Aeros, the first shuttles I ever owned.  They were probably over a decade old, yet still capable of that distinctive old Aero ratcheting click. I could just cry.
 
...or...

I could go shuttle shopping.
Those new pastel clovers sure are cute...