Monica cross and some thread (18/25)

This is the Monica cross from Tatted cross-shaped Bookmarks by Lene Bjorn. This is needle tatted in Lizbeth Boysenberry dk. It is already in the mail to a special friend who just sent me quite a bit of thread and a snowflake tatted by her grandmother.

This is a snowflake tatted by her grandmother. She sent it to see if I could tat something similar.


I also received all of these goodies as well.

The first is some pink and blue crochet cotton.
Then some thread in size 10. Christmas colors, light blue, red, green, dark green, yellow, and brown.

And lastly, quite a bit of DMC thread in size 80.


If you see anything that strikes your fancy, let me know and we can set up a trade.

blog layout

I'm playing around with a title and layout. Any ideas of how to get the full title to show up?

You will see these crosses soon--they are already in the mail.

shuttle tatting update part 1

I promised a shuttle tatting update, so here it is. I've figured out the flip and have yet to break or throw a shuttle. A good start I thought :)

I still haven't gotten tension and the rings as close as I would like. Hopefully practice will help to fix that. Here is one of my first motifs. I still need to figure out how to add threads. I have some websites on my list to help with starting and adding threads.



After my grand success at this ring and chain motif, I decided to do something bigger! It didn't turn out so great. I tried Stumpy thinking that it would be easy. Boy was I wrong. I'm having a problem with the big rings--how do you make the loop big enough for all of the stitches? I ended up having to pull some extra thread out of to make the loop bigger, but still ended up with just enough room to squeeze my shuttle through at the end. This made for really tight rings. I decided to start again and see what happened. This is my Stumpy with really tight rings.


I have a solution to the big ring problem, but if you have a suggestion please let me know. I wrap the thread several times around my ring and little figure to give me some extra room to make the ring. So here is my new Stumpy and my shuttle. The shuttle was part of a giveaway from Gina . Thanks Gina!! Now with all of the practicing I need to add some thread to my shuttle. Time to read the tutorials.

The winner is.....

In the course of OWOH, my world has gone from this:






to this!



Today the windows are open and we're enjoying some fresh, albeit cold air.

I wished that I could have made it to more of the blogs, but time didn't permit. Thanks to all those who entered. The winner of the bookmark is steufel from Stefanies Sammelsurium . Congratulations. I'll mail it out after I get your address.

I really wish that I would have had more time to look at all of the blogs. I found some new ideas and more blogs to follow. I already heard that I won a doorprize :) I've also gotten a few e-mails with patterns and ideas. What a great way to meet people. I hope to e-mail back some people who left comments on my blog--who knows we might have a few more tatters from this!

Tatting pictures and a shuttle tatting update to come soon.

A Queen for the kitten(17/25)

I decided that the kitten needed a heart for Valentine's Day. Needless to say she was much more interested in the Thomas the train book :) If I can find a plain shirt (they are really hard to find) I will probably attach this to a shirt for her to wear. This is Queen of Hearts by Mary Konior tatted in Lizbeth spring garden size 20. Happy Valentine's Day to all!!!

All hearted out!!

I've been having a grand time seeing the crafters of the world with OWOH. Wish that I had more time to look at everyone.

My mom asked me to make hearts for some special friends of hers. The pattern is by Birgit Phelps. Now I don't want to see these hearts for a long time :) I am working on a special one (a new heart pattern) for the kitten for Valentine's Day. Hopefully I can get it finished in time.

I got surprised with these lovelies. I love how sometimes surprises happen just when you need them most.

Any opinions on the shuttles? I've heard bad things about the metal Boye. But wondered about the plastic Bates. I might take them back and exchange them for Clovers since this appears to be a shuttle most people like. This was such a great surprise since I'm 2+ hours from a real craft store.

I'll have to show pictures of my shuttle tatting soon. It is coming slowly. You will probably be seeing some questions appear on tatting forums soon!

Also, any advice on this product. It was passed along to me thinking that it would make tatting stiff and sparkle at the same time. I'm concerned that it might make the tatting not last as long.