I'm a Knotty Girl.

I am bad.  Bad at keeping up with this blog.  It seems when one big thing gets finished (namely, CPA achievement - that's right! licensed in PA as of May 15, 2012!) I start two different big things to take its place.  Those two things being kitchen remodel (going on three months now) and craft show season (two shows down, two to go).  

One big thing is enough. 
Two are bordering on unmanageable. 
And blog falls to the bottom of the "to-do" list.

But I am tatting!  See - my hands know it!

 

Yes, that's me in the Arthritis glove in 90 degree weather reading my favorite publication.  My hands ache.  I am really trying to take better care of them by not tatting for 8 hours in a row anymore.  Yes, I'm a knotty girl!

This is Yarnplayer's pattern and thread - "Unfolding Heart" in "Grey Crimson".  Yarnplayer, you can make more of this thread anytime you want...oh and "Garden Afternoon" too! ;-)

I'll try to keep up with the blog a little better this fall. 

I ♥ My Mailman, #4

I thank God for Handy Hands Tatting.  They are one of my favorite suppliers for all things tatting, both shuttle and needle...books, threads, and tools.  Usually when a tatter who meets me at a show asks me where I get my supplies, I send them to Handy Hands.  They cater specifically to tatters, which makes them very valuable and fairly rare - especially with the extensive line of supplies they offer.

DMC has been discontinuing thread colors right and left, especially in tatting thread and Cebelia, which are two of the most common threads I use in my work - they have discontinued most of the colors that are my staple colors.  That's why I am so thankful Handy Hands is around - they have developed their own line of thread, Lizbeth, which comes in lots of sizes and colors, including lovely variegated shades.  My favorites (so far) are a nice deep orange, a lovely silver - seen here:

...and my newest aquisition, Spring Garden.  I played with it for quite a few days this week. I also did some bead weaving to match my heart pattern - little hearts made of beads!  

I have read on other blogs and in forums that some people do not like Lizbeth thread, but I have not had any problems so far.  I like it much better than soft threads like Caron Wildflowers and embroidery floss.  I also like it better than Manuala (too stiff) probably a little better than DMC Cebelia.  I still prefer DMC Cordonnet but of course you are limited to black, white, and ecru unless you find someone hand-dying it.

I also ordered a Japanese book, one of my weaknesses, I confess.  I love foreign books, but I especially love the Japanese books with all their glorious photographs and wonderful diagrammed patterns.  I just drool over the photographs especially - such wonderful staging!  ;-)  This book is called."Tatting Lace" (actually, that's the name of several of my Japanese books, I think) and it contains mainly beaded necklaces.  They are a bit too beaded for my taste, I really prefer that my tatting looks more like tatting than like bead work - that's a personal preference.  There are two lovely scarves which I cannot imagine myself making because they would take forever and be too monotonous - I have difficulty with repeating patterns and pieces that take more than 10 hours.  But the pictures give me different ideas about displaying my work at shows so I did get something out of the purchase.

Thank you, Mr. Mailman (and Handy Hands Tatting)!

♥

New Pattern Available

Thanks everyone for the information about where to get cabone rings (see my last post and comments). It is so wonderful to have a community of tatters who jump in with help and advice. I will be near a JoAnn Fabrics this weekend and will check there to see what I can find. Also, have you seen Dawn Marie's tatting around a metal heart (click here!)...cool, huh? I know I've seen other shapes like that in some of my jewelry supply catalogs - squares, circles, ovals - I just have to find them again. Of course, I have lots of craft wire and could probably make my own if I was so inclined. Maybe I'll try that to start.

For those of you interested, I have a new pattern available on etsy - Tatted Heart Earrings. That makes four patterns I've managed to write down and make into .pdf files. If anyone is really interested in any of them (Cross, Hip to Be Square Earrings, Long Elegant Earrings, Heart Earrings) but don't want to become a member of etsy in order to purchase, shoot me an e-mail and we can work out something through PayPal or snail mail.


I want to add them to the ArtFire site as well, but haven't managed to get around to that yet. I still have other patterns I want to do as well. Someday!

Happy Valentine's Day

Well, I'm only a little late to the tatted heart posting party...finally recovered (for the most part) from the flu. This heart necklace was quite large - I made it so long ago (and never did make another) so I wish I knew where the heart pattern came from originally, but when I went back to look for it again I couldn't find it - if anyone knows, post in the comments and I'll add the information here.

The rest of the necklace is beadweaving with pearls, seed and other glass beads, made to look like hearts as well.

I have been tatting while having the flu - in short bursts between naps, sneezing and coughing, the chills and having the sweats so bad the thread gets all wet and you can't do anything with it. I also am currently working on fixing a doily for a friend. Her mother tatted the doily but it is very fragile - I'm not sure if it was treated with some kind of starch and then not stored well - but almost the entire outer row had "broken" off of the rest of the doily - in other words, the picots are broken so there's nothing to do but take a fine thread in the same color and sew it back together. Unfortunately, it is so fragile I've managed to break a few more picots while trying to work on it. I'm at the blocking point now - I've blocked it once but it needs to be done a second time.

Lots of wash to catch up on, and I have to go do some bookkeeping for a non-profit organization I volunteer for today as well - so I'm off!