January 31st post

Wow, can you tell it's late? It's 3:30 AM here, and I've been in the closet (with the light on) tatting so that I wouldn't wake Livi.

BUT, here's the HDT "Laila" worked up.  It is so pretty. Size 80

It's Mary Konior's Eightsome Reel.  I really like this little piece.  I want to make some more!

Up next: Susan Fuller's Heart of Desire. I've started this one before, but only now actually finished one.  This one is in size 80, one my HDT's Pink to Gray

I was getting really tired towards the end.  Can you tell? I'll give you a hint as what to look for... I started with the pink ring and ended with that ugly gray one lol (the ring is ugly not the color).  I also joined the rings that usually hang loose in the middle to the rings on the edge.  I like this, keeps them in line :o)

And finally:

I'm working on Iris Niebach's Cornelia from Tatted Doilies.  Again, this is size 80 of my HDT. I do not plan to do the whole doily in the color.  Heck, I may not even do the whole thing in this size.  I have ideas for how I want finish this one my way lol

This is the only bit of this thread that I have, but I plan on making some more.  I don't know if you can tell, but it's blue/gray/black.  It has a very "denim" look.  This one, I had a short skein (from cutting between knots off the cone) so I let it loosely sit however it wanted in a 2 oz cup and then applied dye to the cup via a dropper. I put a light blue on one side and black on the other.  As you can probably imagine and as you can see, the black took over most of the area, but the randomness of it is very fun.  I thought about experimenting with other colors but the same method and calling them "Messy Jessi's" lol

Rainbow-licious Glass Mat is finish, and oh so pretty!

I've got to admit, this pattern (Konior's Spinning Wheel Glass Mat) is really pretty. Not only that, but it's a lot of fun to tat and it looks especially wonderful in my own HDT size 40 Rainbow-licious. :o)

So, now I must study for the small Italian quiz I have in the morning.  It shouldn't be too hard, but it's always good to practice. 

Coming up next for tatting, I reserved for myself some the black and pinkish purple size 80 (or "Laila", which I actually did not name after my cat, Layla... I got the name off one of the Baby name sites lol).  I'm going to find the perfect project for some of it. The "plan" is to use a pattern from one of the three new books I got in the mail the other day! :o)

More thread in the shop

So, I got with my good friend Mandy tonight and she very kindly took some more professional style pictures for my Etsy store.  She's so wonderful!  So Instead of having just two listing in the shop I now have 8 listings.  Also, I ordered a cone of size 20 today from Lizbeth, so once I get that in, I'll be able to offer size 20. I know a lot of people like that size.  I personally prefer size 40, but if they are to sell, then I need to offer what you like :o)

Here are some of the pictures Mandy took tonight:

And for Diane:  Because of your excitement to see what I could tat with the threads the other day, I am tatting your favorite pattern.  The MK Spinning Wheel Glass Mat, and in the Rainbow-licious!

It may take me a while to finish, but it's looking beautiful already.  I love how the colors work together.  :o)

Rustic/Blue Cross

Here's an example of the Rustic/Blue worked up as a cross from Tatting Patterns and Designs by Gun Blomqvist and Elwy Persson.  The "chocolate brown" is VERY dark, but do you see why I call it "rustic"?

I like it, do you?

Rainbow-licious!

I hope y'all don't get too bored hearing about dyeing and such.... but anyway... the other night I dyed 15 skeins. That's the most I've ever done at one time.  Overall, I feel like it was a success.  I have not washed all of them yet though.  But of the ones that I have washed, I have 7 "Rainbow-licious" skeins and 4 "Rustic/Blue"

"Rainbow-licious":

These are all size 40 Lizbeth brand thread.  None of them are "perfect".  All of them have some spots that are lighter than others, or extra spots of color, mostly in the yellows.  Despite these little imperfections, these are really stunning. (IMHO) .

"Rustic/Blue":

Again, this is size 40.  This one turned out really fun!  If you google rustic blue, and look at  images... you'll pretty much see what you can expect from these threads.  The dark color, is actually the "chocolate brown", but the dye didn't dye "evenly" so the brown as "speckles" all throughout it that are blue in shade.  On top of that the blue has it's own gradient I guess.  These will be great for a more "manly" project.  There's also, white spots between the blue and brown, which just adds more to the overall personality. :o)

So, the above are all still fairly damp, so they aren't ready to go anywhere.  But these are:

Here is one of those places where I feel my scanner does not do the threads justice.  The top two are the same colors as my "monster heart" from the other day. 

That is all for tonight.  I'm going to try to sleep, and hope the tornado sirens don't start going off again tonight!

Does anyone have any tips on how to get this 3-D??

It's Rosa Frivola by Mary Konior, from Tatting with Visual Patterns.  I love this book. Even though I have gotten other books, this one is my favorite.  I actually ordered one of her out of print books, but since it's coming from the U.K., and even though it was shipped last week, I have a feeling it could be forever until it gets here.  Oh well, it'll be worth the wait :o)  

But, back to the question at hand.  I have 9 petals, the last three look pretty awful, so I didn't go out of my way to get them in the scan. I figure they'll be in the center of the flower lol.  I've starched it, but it's still hard to get it to look right. BUT it does say in the book that it'll take some practice.  I want to put it on a crochet cap that I got for my baby neice, Chloe.  That means that I want to get it to sit right and not move once it's set.  Also, I'm looking into how to get it attached to the cap in such a way that my sister in law (Chris's sister), can remove it from the cap when the cap gets dirty, because I already know that she's not going to want fluff this thing back up. For that part of my problem, I'm thinking maybe a button attachment.  I was thinking a pin bar backing, but I would absolutely hate (and I do not use the "h" word") myself if it ever came loose and stuck her. 

So, any suggestions on 1) how to get it to actually look like a flower and stay looking like a flower. 2) how to attach it a crochetted cap in a removable fashion.

You ALL are so wonderful with your suggestions.  I really do appreciate every comment that y'all post on my little blog :o) 

On another note... Aren't the colors gorgeous??  This is the pastel rainbow that I have a size 40 and size 80  skein of in my shop.  This is in size 40.  This pattern however took a lot of thread.  More than I thought it would.  Luckily, these skeins are the ones that were closer to 65 - 70 yards, so even though I made this thing, and a couple other little things that didn't pan out, I still have quite a bit of this thread left for myself.

small heart-like motif/ monster heart

I got Tatting Patterns and Designs by Blomqvist a week or two ago and while flipping through the book immediately was drawn first to the crowns in towards the back but then this little heart like motif that they actually call a "star", but it looks like a heart to me...so, I'll call it a "heart-like" motif :o)

It's in some Lizbeth 40 that dyed the other day.  It's pink and purple, and I thought the whole thing was kind of a bust since some of the purple patches are a little "splotchity", but really I think it just adds personality to it...

What I really love about this little thing is that from far off it looks like a heart...but when you look at it close up, it looks like a monster face lol  See how the clover kind of looks like eyes and a big nose and the rings at the bottom look like fangs.  Then he's got like droppy cheeks and floppy ears lol  I've always had a knack for seeing weird things, maybe this is one of them :o)

That reminds, at one point I had some sew-on googly eyes that I wanted to make a little face out of, but since I use smaller threads, the eyes were always too big.  Maybe this in size 10 thread with sew-on googly eyes would really tie it all together. :o)

slowly opening...

Well, I officially have an Etsy shop.  Because my camera is still with Fuji, I am not able to take beautiful photos like I'd like, so it's only showing scans of the threads.  BUT at least I started it, it needs a lot of work, but that will come with time. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will Tat-ilicious Threads.

I only have the pastel rainbow colored threads and the bold pink/orange ones up right now... just because it's late, and I'm tired, so I'm going to bed, and hopefully I'll get my mom's camera out tomorrow and take some better pictures of the others and get them in the shop!

Hope everyone out there in Tat-land is doing well!!

a little preview...

Here are some of the threads that I intend to start a shop with...

These are actually very "healthy, plump" skeins.  After these I realized that my "50 yd" skeins were more like 65 yds... I have skein in size 40 and the other in size 80. These may not look all that impressive, but worked up it looks very lovely... I'll have pics soons!

These 4 are size 80... and just like I suspected with my post yesterday... once I washed up the black and gray ones... they were beautiful. Go figure. They are in plastic baggies... so, sorry for the light reflections.

These are size 60... and oh so pretty from reddish pink to bold pink to orange... yum! I have 2 of these.

These are size 40.  I love the colors, but not how I dyed them.  For some reason... I took my very long skein loop and colored half one color and the the other half the other color.  This makes for a VERY long colorway.  Since these I have gotten one the tabletop swifts with moveable pegs, which means I can make a 39" loop.  If have dyed have a 39" loop one color and the other half the other color, that wouldn't be so bad. But these loops are more like 58" or so.  (I was using a PVC niddy noddy that Chris made for me).  So you can see how that would be problem.... but if you started in the right place it would look as if you were using two different colors for your rings and chains which would be pretty cool I guess.  

I know I don't have many skeins of each color, but where I am right now, it doesn't seem to make much sense to make a whole lot of any one color scheme.  This whole experience has given me a real appreciation for the lovely people that do dye a lot and have such lovely selections.  It takes a lot of work... and my hats are off to you!

Just a Quick Question for all those in Tat land...

So, as you know, I've been dyeing thread to potentially sell on Etsy.  As far as I can see a 50 yd skein for about $7 is standard.  50 yds is quite a lot of thread though.  If you have ever been hindered to buy HDT because of the $7, would you be more likely to buy a smaller skein, say 25 yds, at $3.50?

25 yds still seems like quite a bit of thread.  Of course, you wouldn't get it for a big project or anything.  But this is one thing I'm thinking about, but if I get too many negative responses to it, then I'll just scrap it. :o)

Thank you all for any and all input.

I'm glad to be out of school and all but,

I really wish that the mail ran today.  Well, Happy Martin Luther King Jr. day everyone.  So, I am awaiting 4 packages in the mail... I really dislike the waiting for mail thing.  Most of the items I am waiting for are coming from the United Kingdom, and I know the whole overseas thing takes a while so I'm not holding my breath on those, trying not anyway.  I mean we are talking about 3 tatting books and two shuttles from Jane... so it's kind of hard not to be a little excited. :o)  The other though is a cone of size 40 from Handy Hands.  That should be here tomorrow.  So excited!
And speaking of the cone from Handy Hands...
The dyes I had been working with were from Dharma Trading.  I think I am going to stick with them.  I went to a local art store and got some new procion dyes by Jacquard there and so far have been not happy with them.  It may be that I tried black, and just was not happy with it.  Also, I bought a jar of "chocolate brown" which when I mixed it up... is black with a purple tint. The powder itself is brown though.  I get it though. I can understand how brown would be a hard color to obtain.  THEN the "hot pink" I got was more baby pinkish... and at higher concentrations was red.
My dyes that I have from Dharma are wonderful though.  The give nice bright colors.  I currently only have three: Fuschia red, robins egg blue, and citrus yellow... but with those I can get all kinds of colors.
I guess it's really one of those things that just takes a lot of trial and error, ya know?
ALSO! Something I think is kind of funny.  Sometimes I'll have an idea for something to dye... and when I'm actually dyeing it looks awful.  But when I go back and wash of the excess and dry it... the colors kind of grow on me and I like it more than something that I thought was brilliantly spectacular when I was dyeing.  Go figure.  Life is funny that way.
As far as tatting goes... I've got a couple of big projects going on and once I'm finished I'll have pics. :o)

Well, I'm back from class.... so that means....

After figuring out how to print screen on random.org, we have our winners.....

So looking back at the other post, that means the winners for the first ever Tat-ilicious giveaway are Fox, Jane, and Michelle!!

Congrats!

And since none of you had listed a preference I will just let Livi put the labels on the envelopes  (That is of course... after I receive your addresses of course) :o) Which means I won't know what you got either. lol.

I hope to have more giveaways in the future.  They are just plain fun for everyone :o)

some catching up to do

So, I've been tatting, but for whatever reason, I never posted about any of these.

They are all from Jon's Elegant Tatting Gems.  The top right is done in Lizbeth size 40 Charcoal and Medium Purple I believe.  Then the middle one is done in some size 60 that I dyed.  These are brighter than some of the ones I dyed recently for a couple of different reasons.  One of which is I used freshly prepared dye for it and another, I did most of the curing under an electric blanket instead of in the cold garage.  Lesson learned :o).  The bottom, is Lizbeth size 40 Azalea Md. and Seagreen Light.  Aren't they pretty??

And here are some more pictures of the threads I'm giving away on my other post....  This time done on the scanner.  My camera is being sent back to Fuji for repair. :o)

I think it's funny that the pictures really capture the beauty of the yellow and green but the blue and purple just looks dull.  In person though, the blue and pink/purple looks very nice.

 And here... I've decided to try Jane's TIAS... so here's my day 1... I'm doing it in the size 60 yellow green mix, same as the two skeins I'm giving away.  :o)  As for that extra picot at the beginning... that's just habit I guess.  I always leave a small picot at the beginning of every project.

The very first Tat-ilicious Give-away!

Okay, so if you've been reading lately, you already know that I've been trying my hand at dyeing thread.  The first reason for my dyeing threads would be to sell the threads to justify my buying and acquiring more thread for myself (naturally, right?)  Since I am currently jobless, a self supporting hobby is justifiable, in my eyes :o)

So these first few skeins I had intended to start an etsy shop with... but alas... I had been working hard at getting some skeins wound up and ready for dyeing.  All was well they were sitting nice and pretty on the couch, and then my lovely artistic daughter placed her freshly painted picture right on top of my beautiful pile of freshly wound skeins.  LUCKILY, not very much paint got on the thread, but some paint did get on them.   I tried to clean them and get all the paint off, but there is still the mark from where the paint was.  I really do not think that this little bit of paint will make the threads un-usable, but in my eyes, they do make them un-sale-able.  (( I did not tell Livi that her paint got on the thread, as this would made her extremely upset.  She's very sensitive and gets very upset when she thinks she has messed anything up))

So I feel bad that my first giveaway is essentially "damaged goods" but they are still pretty.  I have three total.  One skein is size 40 with colors of pink-purple-blue (it kind of looks like something Barbie would wear really) The picture doesn't do it justice but, oh well.

The other two are size 60 and the color is pale yellow to green:

I really think that they are both very pretty.  In fact, I have a skein of both that I have decided to keep for myself despite their flaw.  And if you are wondering about the flaw, here's an example:

Do you see that tiny blue speck... that's how small we are talking.  All the strands separate from one another and they still fell pretty smooth.  But like I mentioned before, I just don't feel right selling them, in this condition.  Plus, I'm still working out making the skeins.  So, this will be a good start I think.

So... the giveaway:  Because I have three skeins, there will be three winners.  To enter, all you need to is comment on this post and make sure that I can contact you.  Because I have 2 different kinds of skeins, if the first comment that is selected randomly has mentioned a preference then they will be granted their preference. If the first winner had not made a preference known, and the second winner does give preference, then the 2nd will be granted their preference... and so on.  If no winners give their preference, then, I will just randomly divvy them up.  How does that sound?

This is post is going up on Tuesday morning (for me) at 1:08 am, so I will randomly draw names for the winners sometime Thursday afternoon when I get back from Biochemistry!  I realize that makes this kind of a quick giveaway... but there will be more in the future, that hopefully will not include small bits of acrylic paint

how sweet...

So, I would like to preface by saying that a few weeks ago after reading that Fox mentioned running out of pink in size 80, I mentioned that I had loads of pink in size 80 and offered her some.  So we did a little swap, which she sent me some very lovely items.  As I was putting together the package together for her, Livi of course needed to help me with everything.  She was very fascinated that I had a friend that she had never heard of and that I talked to this friend on the computer.  So, now anytime I get on the computer, she just assumes I'm talking to Fox.  (She's so sweet!)

So tonight, I was on the computer and she wanted to get on and tat.... so I took her video.  So, as you watch, you'll see her talk about "my friend Fox" lol

Enjoy!

Don't you love how she's been tatting since she was a little girl, or did she say since she was a baby.  It's always one of the two.  :o)  

And here's just the two of us:

Isn't she precious???

Trying my luck again...

with the camera that is.  The camera is a Fujifilm Finepix HS20 EXR.  Other than that, I don't know much about the camera other than my mom found it on One Sale a Day.  The main screen on the back doesn't actually work,  something's wrong it.  It shows lines and is discolored, but it's okay because the digital screen that you can find in the viewfinder works fine.  I've never seen a digital screen like this one in a viewfinder before but since the main one doesn't work, I like that there is another one.
So, anyway, I took my lime green piece outside today (it was a nice sunny day) and took some pics.  Natural light always looks better than artificial.  Even if you have a crappy camera, it probably takes good pictures outside.  But here are some of the pictures from today:

This was outside, with the piece sitting on a brownish black piece of wood.  I think this piece of wood was once supposed to be a shelf for one of the bookcases inside, but I have since confiscated it for moments such as this :o)

Here I hung the motif on one of the many bare branches of my rose bush.  Poor rose bush.

This clover patch sits right beside the bare rose bush, and may be part of the reason my rose bush stays so bare. lol

Ahh... chilling out on the chair on the front porch :o)

Same chair, just macro

Now, this, is the same board from picture number 1.  Except this time I scooted Layla out of her sun bathing spot right inside the door.  Amazing that this was actually taken inside.  

This was taken inside in one of the more shaded spots but with the blinds open on a near window.  Also, I'm pretty sure I used the flash on this one.

Looking at them all together, I think I like the second one best.  Next favorite would be one of the last two pictures.  Looks so much better than the pictures taken in my bedroom last night :o)