Tatting along

Jon has a great list of people taking part in the Norma Benporath tat-along.  I've had some very nice comments (which I enjoy tremendously).  I feel rather guilty, since I'm not very good at leaving comments on other blogs, although I like looking.  Hmm, perhaps 'comment more' would be a good resolution for the new year.

Here's the mat, at the beginning of round 3.  After the giant, multi-coloured size 10 doily, I decided to use plain white size 40.  The big old hand is in the picture for scale.

I've also finished this button necklace designed by Sally Kerson.

It's a colourful necklace, but I keep rifling through my closet trying to figure out what to wear it with.  I admire Sally Kerson and Jane Eborall's ability to make things they actually wear.  For me, the brain cells that choose clothes, and the ones that choose craft patterns, live in very different parts of the brain.  Apparently the crafting cells have more fun.

Bits and pieces

I'm feeling a bit scatter-brained today, so it's time for a scatter-brained post.

First, 8 little clovers for Jon's Lace Mat Tat-along.  The amazing Jon is updating and charting a series of vintage tatting patterns. I'm doing mine backwards, clovers first.

Next, the hair clip plan in progress. The pansies are from 100 Flowers to knit and crochet by Lesley Stanfield.  The clips are wrapped in ribbon and the decorations are stitched on.  No glue.

Next, my new favourite skirt.  See the pretty colours!  It flares too, just enough to twirl.  Big girls like to twirl too.

Lastly, two baju raya, one baju melayu for my big guy and one kebarung for the little lady.

Hair clip plan

Little lady's hair keeps falling into her face.  So, the plan is to turn all these unused little bits into hair clips.  It needs to be done quickly, preferably before she turns into a teenager, decides to dress all in black, and declares flowers to be out of fashion.

Done doily

I finished the Clover doily by Eileen Stafford weeks ago but in the my usual style, it took me that long to hide the ends and iron it.

Here it is.  I had plans to sew it onto a nice linen tote bag.  The thing is, it's made with size 10 thread, so it's 40cm (15 inches) across.  I think I'd better use a gym bag instead of a tote bag.

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.

'Quick' embroidery

Last weekend was full of kids activities.  Kid activities means sitting around waiting.  If I sit around with idle hands, I lose my temper, so I decided to do some quick embroidery.  Embroidery is great when my hands can move, but there's not enough peace for counting.

I always forget that I'm not very good at embroidery, so even simple projects take a week to finish.  Here are the bits I was working on.  These are from the 'Dress up' and 'Spaced out' patterns by Jenny Hart at 'Sublime Stitching'.

I'm planning to make little bags out of them, one for the little lady, one for the big guy.  I wonder how long it will take me to actually finish those bags?  Hmm, I think I'll just avoid thinking about that right now.  The big thing I learned making these is that I"m too old to be embroidering dark fabric.  It's hard to transfer patterns to it, my eyes don't like it, and it photographs badly.

While I'm on the subject, I thought I'd share some of my kiddos' embroidery.

This was made by my little guy when he was about 6 (This is the 'Mom' pattern is from Leanne at DLTK's Crafts for Kids).  No, I didn't make him choose that pattern.  He chose it himself.  He's a sweet kid.  I helped him with the lettering and the heart (we made a mistake and ended up accidentally changing the letters).  He did the flowers and border himself.

This is his latest embroidery (again from 'Spaced out' by Jenny Hart).  He's almost 8 and he's now tackling back stitches.  He threaded his own needles and tied his own knots.

This is the little lady's from when she was 4.  This is not her first.  On her first piece, she stitched the embroidery hoop into the cloth and I had to cut it apart to get the hoop free.

This is her latest piece.  She's almost 6 now.  She says it's a house; her very own design, displayed in her own frame.  She can be pretty independent.  About all I did is hoop the fabric and show her how to thread the needle.

Years in the making

I finished the last little amigurumi for my son.  This is the Cleric from Christen Haden's 'Creepy Cute Crochet'.

With the completion of this little guy, I can now take a picture that has been years in the making.

This is every model in 'Creepy Cute Crochet'.  I bought the book when it was first published (back in 2008).  My brother suggested that I make '300 Spartans' (The Spartan is second from the right, top row).  I declined.  My son flipped through the pages, picking out the one he wanted me to make.  I jokingly told him we could make all of them, and arrange them on the piano, just like in the book.

The little guy took me seriously.  So every few months since then, he's asked me for another model.  Now, 4 years later, he has his full set.  He even setup up the photo shoot for me.