Classic Doily Re-Do

 My first attempt at Linda's Classic Doily didn't go so well. I used a size 10, older thread that would fray and snap whenever I would do a lot of chains. Since this doily is mostly chains and I really like the pattern so I've given it another go! This is in wedgewood light Lizbeth thread and I'm loving it! I used split rings and split chains and am in love; they save so much time and I've really enjoyed honing my tatting skills. 

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!

 

Tat-a-long!

I've started the Tat-a-long! After reading and being inspired by Fox's Post about her gorgeous Lace Mat tattings, I decided to give it a whirl! The basics of the Tat-a-long can be read at Tat-a-Rand's blog post Here. The tat-a-long is where tatters from all over tat a doily pattern at the same time! So exciting! I'm starting it this week and plan to work on it while I have some time off work in October! What a fun challenge! There is no time limit on this project for feel free to join us!

Be Blessed!

 

Antique Colors...

After finishing my Doodad Dare I've been working on the Small Coronet Pattern from Tattyhead's blog. Apparently Fox and I had been having the same problem with the bulkier thread sizes that kept snapping the fraying while being tatted. I started with a larger thread, but these two color were sitting next to each other in my tatting box and it's was like instant inspiration! I have to admit that I didn't use two shuttles until the last round so I am planning on making this one again using two shuttles and giving split chains a chance! I really loved how much time you save by using them and not have to cut and hide ends while tatting doily rounds. Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!!! Be blessed!

 

Frilly Rose Pattern!

 I love these little frillies so much and had such great feedback from all of you lovely tatting ladies that I'd like to share the pattern with you! Here goes it!

The rosette is made of six chains repeated around a tatted ring. You can add as many rounds as you like, just increase the number of picots accordingly. Start with a shuttle wound to the ball thread and leave it attached.

Center Ring: 2-2-2-2-2-2. close, reverse work.

CH1: 2-1-1-2+ (join to the first picot on the previous ring.) Repeat 5 times, joining to the next picot in the ring. Be sure to leave a little bit of space between the chains for joining the next round. On the last chain for this round, join to the base of the first chain. Now you are ready to start the second round of chains.

CH2: 3-1-1-3+ (join to space in between previous chains.) Repeat around rosette.

CH3: 3-1-1-1-3+ (join to space in between previous chains.) Repeat around rosette.

CH4: 2-2-2-2-2-2+ (join to space in between previous chains.) Repeat around rosette.

CH5: 3-2-2-2-2-3+ (join to space in between previous chains.) Repeat around rosette.

     

 This is my first time writing up a pattern so feel free to add to this pattern and create something all your own! If you have any questions or if there is a direction that is unclear please leave a comment and I'll be checking in! Enjoy!

 

Frilly Roses

I so enjoyed making the Frilled Rosettes from my Previous post, that I made a couple more! The pattern is very simple: use any tatted rose pattern and add picots!

 

Here is the back of one of the roses and a plain rose with no picots - they are the same pattern, with and without picots.

The frilly rose is the centerpiece of my Doodad Dare. I copied the outer edges from the pattern in Lene Bjorn's '24 Tatted Snowflakes.' I don't consider myself very good at making up patterns but I may just have to try adding some different designs for the second tatted round.

The possibilities are endless and that's what I love about 'em! I'm thinking of making some of the frilled rosettes for lapel pins to sell at the artists market! Hope you are having a great week! Enjoy!

 

Doodad Dare projects

 HOORAY!! I've completed the Doodad Dare by LaceLovin'Librarian!!! Diane sent me four tiny little doodads that I had a blast creating tatted pieces to go around each one. I posted the shuttle picture so you can see just how small these little treasures were. For the first pair I made earrings. I looked around Etsy and Google for inspiration and came up with a simple flower pattern and attached the little doodads to the lace. They turned out pretty cute!

 Here is was I did with the other two! I made matching snowflakes for Diane and I! Her snowflake is in the mail and on its way. Thank you Diane for sending me the doodads and including me on this fun adventure! These snowflakes have a fun story I'd like to share : )

Photo Courtesy - Flicker Album

It all started on Pintrest... I saw this picture, at left, and HAD to make one! The website has some really gorgeous tatted lace pieces-  be sure to check out the photo courtesy link. I really like the look of tatted rosettes and what intrigued me is that this one had picots on the chains to make it look frilly! So I made up my own rendition and wrote up a pattern. I don't consider myself very creative when it comes to making patters but I was pretty excited to be able to recreate the picture that I saw. I'll be doing a blog post all about these frilly roses soon so stay tuned! :)

So while spending a rainy day looking round and linking to a couple different blogs I found another tatting blog called: Mary's Handmade and she did a post about this very snowflake! Long story short, her blog is in Romanian, so I copied what her blog post said and plugged it into GoogleTranslate and TA-DA! I could read her blog and what she said about the snowflake! You can read her post HERE. She got the pattern from the book '24 Snowflakes' by Lene Bjorn! I might have to add that to my wish list; looks like a great book!

So that is the tale of my tatted Doodads. Quite a fun adventure!  Hope you are having a great weekend! Love from Illinois,

 

When life gives you lemons...

 Or you could say, "When the thread for your new doily breaks." Hehe! Yes, I tried my first split chains yesterday only to have to pull them out. As I started tatting the many rounds of only chains for the Classic Doily, the thread I was using started to fray. I even did a Shoe Lace Trick so I could switch shuttles, but it didn't work. Every time I would join a chain to the previous round the thread would snap. SO, I decided  that I'm going to use the center motif as a start for those pitcher covers! I love how the center is worked and it's the perfect size, about 4-3/4", to cover a standard coffee mug. Now I'm going to play around with adding the frills to the side by either tatting an elongated crown pattern or using TamingRose's Trick! Hope you all are having a great weekend! The weather here is picturesque fall; clear skies, plenty of sunshine and a high in the low 70s!!! We even went to the apple orchard this morning and ate apple cider doughnuts and drank cider! So yummy!

 

Trying Split Chains!

I'm always excited to try a new pattern, especially if there is a new technique involved! Linda's Classic Doily has split rings and split chains! I've never done split chains before and it was a great to learn this technique. I love that you can climb out of rounds in a doily and not have to cut, tie and hide ends. This was my first attempt so don't look at the chains too closely! ; ) I read the How-To from the book I got from my advanced tatting class called Oh My Stars. You can also view this book on my home page under the 'My Bookshelf' Tab. This a great book that explains techniques for both shuttle and needle tatting. Hope that you all are having a great Thursday! It's almost the weekend! Be blessed everyone!

 

Classic Doily

Photo Courtesy - Tattyhead Blog

Started Linda's 'Classic White Doily' last night! Gotta love a new pattern; they are so exciting! There is something else exciting happening around here: RAIN! We got rain last night and this morning! It's been so dry and hot this summer that we needs all the rain we can get! Hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday!

Completed Doily!

 Here is it! My Mom's completed Mothers Day present! The link to the pattern can be found HERE on TattyHeads' blog! I just found a link to a smaller version of this doily...one more beautiful pattern to add to my 'To Tat' list! Have a great Saturday everyone!