Thursday, March 17, 2011

Sure 'n It's St. Paddy's Day !

Sharren's Shamrock - Motif #23, Second Round

Thanks to Sharren (see link below) I now have  a sweet Shamrock to wear on my 1991 hand-knit Aran sweater!  

This shamrock is a very clever design, and - I know this may shock you - it's my first attempt at an SCMR!  All of these techniques open up design possibilities!

Here's a close-up of the shamrock on a scalloped black velvet paper disc. (These little discs are a great way for me to 'wear' small tatted motifs.) Of course, I couldn't resist adding some 'bling'. I did a simple chain 'stem' (and not too neatly!) as I was tatting this around Midnight and didn't have time to figure out how to do Sharren's very impressive lock stitch chain. I don't think I've ever seen that before. Always something new to learn!

I used DMC Perle Cotton Size 8, Color 909, and I have no idea where or when I bought it - probably at a cross-stitch store, as back in the 1990s there were several shops in the area, and had a good range of colors in the Perle Cotton. It has a nice sheen to it.

Here is the link to Sharren's blog:
http://tattingwithsharren.blogspot.com/
  
The green ball of thread is not new, and I recall using it for some cloverleaf and chain patterns, but don't know what I did with them! Possibly they'll show up in some 'safe' hiding place !

Irish Roots

It's that special day when I honor my Irish ancestors, especially my maternal grandmother, Katherine Flanagan (born in the 1870s), for whom I am named, but sadly never got to know, as she died only four months after I was born. But I have photos and have heard all the stories from my older cousins about what a special and cheerful lady she was! Interestingly she did not do any needlework, and neither did my mother(!), so I possibly acquired that skill from my father's Polish mother, who had worked alongside her husband in the textile mills in New England, and did a lot of sewing and crocheting. My father's sister also did a lot of knitting, and later on, we shared patterns by mail.

I always enjoy visiting Tatskool's blog (http://tatsakoolchallenge.blogspot.com/), where she often takes us on tours of Ireland complete with wonderful history lessons!


9 comments:

  1. It makes a beautiful pendant! Lots of Irish in me too. Horatio Bailey & his wife came over in the 1600's. Not the Mayflower. One of the Bailey descendants ended up in Greenhill, Indiana, platting the town along with two other families. They're on my mother's mother's side. It's fun to find out who the adventurer's were in your history.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy St. Paddy's Day to you, Kathy! I love your shamrock, and I really think I should try tatting one. Grandpa Duffy would be impressed, I think.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is an impressive shamrock, interesting to hear about your family and Ginas. I made the shamrock myself yesterday about 10.00 pm, minus the beads, then gave it to an Irish couple today. Sharren has designed a clever pattern

    ReplyDelete
  4. That looks wonderful!

    Happy St. Paddy's Day!
    Fox : )

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great shamrock! I love the touch of bling!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great photos! Both the shamrock and the sweater are exquisite.
    Happy St. Paddy's Day to you, too!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lovely shamrock I have taken that pattern down too. Thanks Sharren.
    So glad that you enjoy my travel posts. Ireland Rocks!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi,

    Lovely shamrock, and nice idea to put them on a velvet disc.

    Thank you for the comment on my blog, you asked about the basket, no its not my pattern its from a book called Three-dimensional patterns. its a quite old book but you might still be able to get a copy.

    Margaret

    ReplyDelete