HAPPY HALLOWEEN (Today!)

I'm doing a quick post today because I just HAD to explain how Wanda's Pumpkin Vine Bookmark is now in MY possession on this Halloween Day 2010 !!! :) :) :)

This is Wanda's actual bookmark designed and tatted by Wanda herself! (Wanda of “Wanda’s Knotty Thoughts Blog”), and it is now in my house, where I just took the above photo!

It is Wanda’s prototype, first edition, one-of-a-kind bookmark, based on Heidi Sunday's innovative and clever 'pumpkin vine' pattern found at

http://www.georgiaseitz.com/classes2/pumpkin.html

Here's where you saw Wanda's bookmark first - On October 26:

http://wandasknottythoughts.blogspot.com/2010/10/givin-and-gettin-tatting-tea-tuesday.html

Wanda had been fascinated by Heidi's vine pattern and designed a full bookmark from it with lots of twists and turns and lots of ‘pumpkins’!

This bookmark is nothing short of brilliant and I can't believe I now 'own' the actual bookmark that she posted on her blog!

However, GET THIS !!

The bookmark was handed to me IN PERSON

TODAY - by Wanda herself!!

How did this happen, you might ask, considering I live in Pittsburgh, PA and Wanda lives in Kansas !

Well, here's the 'short' story! :)

Wanda recently held a giveaway to celebrate her 2nd blogaversary, and - I WON!

The giveaway was announced in her post dated Oct. 12, where she described making her amazing "Doily with Antique Motif.” (Please check that out, too!)

All you had to do was leave a comment in that post, and you would enter a drawing for a prize. The drawing would be held Oct. 26. Of course, I commented on the doily, which is gorgeous! (And to tell you the truth, I completely forgot about the giveaway!)

On Tuesday, Oct. 26, she notified me that I won the drawing ; and, of course, I was delighted, even though I had no idea what the prize was! She was keeping it a secret!

I sent my address to Wanda so that she could send the prize to me.

When she received my address (I live in the Pittsburgh PA area), she realized that she would be in my 'neck of the woods' on Sunday (today - Halloween Day), as she would be driving from Washington D.C. back 'home' to Kansas, and was taking I-70, which passes very near Pittsburgh! (This gal really gets around, which you already know if you follow her blog!)

She asked if we could possibly get together, and - long story short - that's what we did this afternoon!

We met at a restaurant off I-70 and had a GREAT time and an enjoyable tat-chat while having lunch at the restaurant! What's more, I got to meet one of Wanda's daughters and her adorable 2-year-old son (one of Wanda’s grandsons) who were also on the LONG ride back to Kansas!!!

To my amazement, Wanda's giveaway has several parts to it, which I will post about soon, but when I opened a card with this fabulous bookmark in it, I was totally in shock, as I recognized it right away!!

I asked if she tatted a second one so soon after the first, and she said "No, this is my first and only one". I protested that I couldn't possibly accept it! How could she bear to part with it!??? But she insisted it was now mine!

I am truly honored and delighted to have this bookmark!!! It is amazing to see it in person!

And, as mentioned there were other amazing surprises! It was like Christmas on Halloween!

Stay tuned for Part 2 - and more photos! Just wanted to get this posted ASAP!!!

In our neighborhood, 'Trick or Treat' night was on Thursday, so I was able to do this post without interruption from 'Ghosts and Goblins!' Hope you get to enjoy some leftover candy, especially CHOCOLATE!

Fluttering By - finally!

- New (to me) butterfly pattern
- Necklaces for pendants

I’m finally doing a post again, and never intended to be away this long! I’m ‘late’ in finishing my second round of the 25-Motif, so I’m getting back in the game with Motif #19 today to show that I actually am doing some tatting, and I hope to finish posting six more motifs soon, to complete the 25.

Motif #19 – Second Round
from “Butterfly Twins” designed by Eliz Davis.

We’ve been traveling and having some fun adventures (except for a flat tire on the turnpike - long story there!) and while on the road or at a motel, I like to tat 'easy' things. I happened upon this sweet butterfly pattern on the internet, and I was smitten! I knew it would also be a fun and quick way to ‘test’ the colorways of variegated threads

Clockwise from Upper Right:
Caron Wildflowers ‘Twilight’ ;
Lizbeth #20 Vineyard Harvest;
Lizbeth #20 Vineyard Harvest;
Lizbeth #20 Spring Garden

Center of Photo:
Caron Wildflowers ‘Harvest’

This three-ring section is the first round of the butterfly pattern, but I made a slight modification (see below).

The original design, “Butterfly Twins” by Eliz Davis (“Tat Knot”) goes back to 1998, is a diagram, and is located in the sidebar in her blog http://www.tatknot.blogspot.com/ where she has generously shared other free patterns. Thanks, Eliz!

As the title implies, the pattern is written for two little butterflies to be joined together, and attention must be paid to the outer chains (the wings) on the diagram for placement of the picots and connections when forming the wings. However, because I made individual butterflies, I used the same stitch count for forming both wings, with no picots.

Also, in order to do each butterfly in one pass, Liz indicates a split ring for the third ring of the 'clover' in the first round, which would be very convenient for avoiding extra threads to hide.

However, I didn’t want to wrap two shuttles to do the split ring, so I did a normal ring instead (5 total picots: two joining and three showing - always being careful not to twist the final joining picot to the first ring). For the most part, hiding threads is not a big problem for me, and I usually encapsulate the beginning thread. Also, I could choose the color for the beginning small ring on the second round. (I didn't do front-side/back-side tatting on these!)

The antennae are quite easy to add (with a crochet hook), but as you can see, I have so far only added antennae to the ‘blue’ butterflies.

Of course, I had to put one of these butterflies on a pendant!

This is a duplicate of the
‘Twilight’ butterfly shown above, although the colors aren’t quite exact in either photo.

I obtained the Caron Wildflowers threads at my local cross-stitch shop. They are equivalent to size 30, but are a little tricky to tat with – not as smooth as Lizbeth. I have to use less tension.

The little butterfly is also perfect to add to cards, such as the one I made for my mother-in-law for her recent birthday.

These were made with Lizbeth ‘Jellybean’, and were easily attached to the card with gold brads (from my scrap book supplies)

“New” beaded necklaces for my pendants

My recent posts have shown small motifs I’ve put on scalloped black velvet ‘paper’ discs. I recently attached four of them to some colorful beaded ‘necklaces’ that I found at – of all places - the dollar store!

They were eyeglass leashes! I cut off the parts that go over the eyeglass ‘temples’ and joined the ends with a jump ring and bail (which necessitates putting the necklaces on over my head, without a clasp).

I was amazed at the variety and colors of beads on the leashes, which happened to match my pendants!

I did add my own green beads and spacers to the necklace on the far right.

My next posts should be coming up soon! I’m getting much more done around the house with the cooler Fall weather, and always marvel at the changing colors of the leaves – which sometimes happens overnight! It really is a beautiful time of the year, and I'm not missing the hot, humid weather we had this summer!

A blogging note: I edited portions of this post (the next day) to 'improve' some of my sentences (that task could go on forever!), and I also tried very hard to make the spacing the way I want it to be. The written edits indeed were reflected, but I just can't seem to control the spacing. And it may get even worse! I know it has something to do with 'html' codes, but I have no intention of learning them. So, unfortunately, my posts will continue to look a bit 'wonky' and not up to my standards! I'm amazed that blogging can be done at all and I find the technology wonderful - but also frustrating!