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!

Miranda's Cardinal

MOTIF #22, Second Round

I have a small collection of cardinal items, and I certainly love seeing the real ones flitting around the yard!

When Miranda ("Tatting Fool"), generously offered this free pattern a few weeks ago, I e-mailed her immediately.

Click here to see how to obtain the pattern:

http://tattingfool.blogspot.com/2011/02/cardinal-pattern.html

As soon as I printed out the pattern, I did a rough sketch and numbered the rings (there are 19), as that's what I need to do to figure out where I am going. Her instructions are very clear and easy to follow, not to mention the pattern itself being so cool! I kept wondering how she thought of it.   Mr. Cardinal is adorable, and I know he'll get a lot of attention at the Maple Festival, coming up in April.

This is my second cardinal, as I did a 'practice' run with burgundy thread. I intend to do a third one, as this one still isn't perfect and I'm embarrassed to say that I miscounted the stitches on the rings in the easiest part - the main body. Also, I didn't quite get the sharp turn in the feathered crest, which I hope to improve on the next one.

I think Miranda's design is brilliant, and I simply love it. Thank you so much Miranda for sharing this with us! He definitely can be a year-round decoration!!!

I used "Christmas" by Lizbeth, size 20. The frame is 4" high and 3" across.

This frame could hang on a wall, but the stand shown above is a nice showcase for him

The frame
The frame is similar to a 'locket' and is hinged - creating a clear glass 'sandwich'. which means the tatting (and the paper background, from a notecard) is 'pressed' between two pieces of clear glass and 'locked' into place. No gluing necessary!

This clever frame was made by a fellow in Texas and was discovered by Carol Lawecki's mom, Peg, (who's a member of our tatting group) during a trip there. He makes (made?) different sizes of these, from pendants to frames, and in all shapes. I will see Peg soon at the Maple Festival, so can get more details. I have no idea if the fellow is still in business!

For Mr. Cardinal, I happened to have a green note card that provided a kind of Spring-like background, with white 'flowers' printed in the corner of the card, and I added my usual bow with curly spirals, and a silk flower.!

The stand
The stand is similar to the one I used for my white 3-D bell (posted Oct. 19, 2010).  I now remember where I bought these stands - at a local store, which, unfortunately, is no longer in business.  They carried unusual items from Europe and actually traveled there to find them.

Gina's Blogaversary Giveaway
I am a recent happy winner of Gina's generous giveaway, and I'll be posting soon about the many items I received from her! 

Four-Pointed Star from 1990

I have been having computer and blog problems, so I have been delayed in posting my final 5 motifs for the second round of the 25. I'm going to try to get them all in within the next week or so by posting one or two at a time, to avoid complications.




Motif #21, Second Round

Four-Pointed Star designed by Marion T. Leyds

 

from the classic DMC "Tatting for Today" book (Motif #10 in the book, p. 11)

This motif goes back to my early days of tatting in the early '90s, and I look at it every day on our balcony sliding-door/window where it hangs as as a pretty suncatcher.

It is one of the few items I have tatted using size 10 thread, and it IS rather large, but definitely gets noticed. I stiffened it with Alene's fabric stiffener and added some glitter. It has been in the full 'western' sun in the afternoon for many years, and has suffered no ill effects.

I added the long 'crystal' bead and made the tassel (from embroidery floss).

It measures 8 inches from top of the star to bottom of the tassel. The star itself is about 4-1/2 inches long.

* * *

I enjoyed watching the Parade of Roses on New Year's Day. The dogs jumping into the water and 'water boarding' were SO CUTE!!

I did happen to notice, though, that there were very few if ANY majorettes in the parade. Having been one in my youth, I'm feeling sad about yet another tradition going away. I understand that majorettes are fast disappearing from school bands, and it makes me sad, as twirlng a baton was a huge part of my life, as were ballroom dancing - and being a secretary. I'm feeling more and more like a quaint old relic !!!

And All Through the House

the Tree was in place, and so was the lace ....

VICTORIAN DOLL HOUSE - purchased in 2000

I thought Christmas Eve would be a good time to show photos of the exterior and interior of the doll house that I take to all my tatting events so you can see how I've decorated it in 'Victorian' style, with Victorian furniture and, of course, tatted lace. I will be describing this lucky find more fully in a future post, and also how and where I found the furniture.

This is the front view.

The door actually opens, and normally you can see into the house through the clear (acetate) windows, but I wanted you to see the detail on the windows.
















Here is the side with the double window, which I find charming















.






Here is the side with the single window


















And here is the interior, which is the way it looked a few years ago (a photo of a photo).

I've made a few changes since then, but you get the general idea.


The tree is all beads, which I found at Michaels.

Note the hardwood floors on the 1st level!


In a future post, I'll take you on a more detailed 'tour'.

At the moment the interior is not 'photo ready' because the house just came back from two events, and the furniture is still in disarry, as I always put it in positions that make it safe to carry, and I haven't had a chance to get it all back in place!

* * *

On this Christmas Eve 2010, I wish those of you who celebrate

the Christmas holidays

a Very Merry Christmas!

* * *

As a record of the weather here in Pittsburgh on Dec. 24, 2010, there's about 3" of snow on the ground (from previous snowfalls) - but none on the roads - with temps in the low 30s, no precipitation, no wind. Perfect. This kind of weather doesn't often happen on Christmas Eve, but this is how I remember every Christmas Eve during my childhood in the 1950s! It was a magical time - waiting for Santa! I'm feeling quite nostalgic this evening!

Christmas Tree Pin - 1991

- Multiple Uses for Edging Patterns

- Black Wool Cape (from my costume wardrobe)

I recently wore my Christmast tree pin (circa 1991) during our recent Festival events, and I was reminded how it came about. And when I wore it on my black wool cape, I also added another piece of tatting to it to make it more noticeable (see below).

Here is the pin I made in 1991

It is from the same edging in Ann Orr's Classic Tatting patterns that I used to form the star shown in my Feb. 17, 2009 post. I noticed that each point of the edging looked like a Christmas tree. So I tatted one motif in white thread, then glued it onto a card, and it did look like a tree.

But I thought the motif looked the right size to put on a pin backing that I had purchased from a craft store. The pin backing (about 2" high) is made for inserting a separately purchased cameo. However, I cut a velevet oval from gift ribbon to fit into the center of the pin, then glued the tatted tree (in gold metallic thread from DMC) onto the velevt.

Then I glued tiny rhinestones to add bling. I made several of these pins for friends and family

Wearing pin on Black Wool Cape

When I went to our recent tatting events on Dec. 4 and 11, I wanted to wear the pin on my black wool cape that I purchased a few years ago at a consignment shop (a very lucky find!). But the pin by itself didn't stand out, so I found a piece of tatting in my stash to 'frame' it. It is an ecru tatted edging which I had formed into an oval. I pinned the edging to the cape (didn't have time to baste it down), then centered the Christmas pin inside it. I received lots of compliments on it!

Here is a close-up of the pin on the cape

framed by the ecru edging.

Here is a photo of the entire cape. There is red piping around the neck and down the opening, which is a part of the red interfacing inside. I pinned back the interfacing so you can see how nicely the cape is made.

I have no idea where the cape came from, but it's a welcome addition to my costume wardrobe!

Snowflake Inside a Clear Ball Ornament

Sharon's Merry Christmas snowflake!

Because I'm having blogging/computer problems (long story), I'm going to publish a REALLY short post (aren't you glad?) to show you that I was able to get Sharon's pretty snowflake into a clear Christmas ball ornament.

Sharon generously gave us this excellent pattern last year in her December blog. I loved the pattern and her easy diagram, and I posted about it in my own blog on Dec. 24. (In fact, this IS the snowflake that I made last year.)

The ornament is plastic - not glass, as they usually are - and is very well made. I got it at Michaels, and it is 3-1/2 inches in diameter. They also have smaller ones. I like this one because it has a larger opening, which made it easier to 'roll up' (not fold) the snowflake and drop it down into the ornament.

The hanger on the snowflake is wrapped around the 'knob' on top of the ball, and the metal top is clamped over top of the hanger, holding it in place.

I made the snowflake with Lizbeth white, size 20, and it didn't need any sitffening. It easily rolled into a 'tube' (not too tight), then it unfolded when it got into the ornament after jostling it a little bt.

It is displayed here on an 'egg holder', so that it can sit on a table.

* * *

During the past two weekends, our group demonstrated tattig at Vicary Mansion (Dec. 4) and Old Economy Village (Dec. 11). Considering we've consistently had 'snowy-blowy' weather for the past few weeks, we were lucky to have had good weather both Saturdays. Today we're back to snow!

Tatted Angel in Snowglobe !

Product Alert:

This unique snowglobe has a place for inserting photos (2" x 3"), but also has plenty of room to insert a small piece of tatting, and it can be seen from both sides. It is also magnified.

I want to alert you to these snow globes that I found in the Photo area of the big discount store whose intials are W-M. These globes are also advertised on the internet.

The large snow globes (which are not glass but some kind of soft acrylic material) allow you to insert two small 2" x 3" photos back to back. The photos get magnified and look as if they're floating in the snow globe, with the usual 'snow' swirling when you shake them. Cost: about $10.

The base stand just pulls off, and the photos are placed inside the plastic insert (shown in the photo below), which then slides up into a protected area of the globe. Very clever!

I knew exactly the tatted piece I wanted to showcase.

I'm sure you've already guessed what it is:

Motif #20 - Second Round

Hairpin Lace and Tatted Angel - by Martha Ess

Of course, it's Martha Ess's excellent and innovative angel pattern, which can be found on the internet.

For some reason I'm not able to paste the link to the URL here. If you Google "Tatted Angel Hairpin Lace" it will be the first listing on the page. I apologize for the inconvenience!

For size comparisons, here is the angel outside the globe, next to the clear plastic insert (2" x 3") which slides into the globe from the bottom, and holds the photos (or in this case tatting) in place.

I tatted the angel with size 30 Cebelia thread.

I first saw Martha's lovely and unusual pattern (combining hairpin lace and tatting) on the internet in 1998. I was very much intrigued by it, and finally decided to try to make it, possibly around 1999.

Somehow I had a hairpin lace loom among my craft supplies, but had never used it other than to practice making a small sample of hairpin lace, using a crochet hook.

I was quite pleased with myself when I finished the piece (minus halo - I hope to add it soon!), and it's the only hairpin lace I've ever made.

As most of you are aware, Martha has gone on to design so many other fabulous designs, has written several tatting books, and has taught classes at Hector and Palmetto. Thank you, Martha, for your total dedication and innovative contributions to the art of tatted lace !

These snowglobes are a great showcase for your smaller tatted items, which can easily be changed according to the season.

I hope to put a printed gold label on the base, and definitely plan to buy a few more globes!

* * *

In the United States we are looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday, a very pleasant holiday to share with friends and family. i hope you also have a wonderful weekend!