Lovely gifts

Well, I have a bunch of pieces to show you today.
The first is a bookmark I made for my friend's birthday.

Done in Lizbeth size 20, #657 and #603.

The pattern is an edging from A Tatter's Workbook by A. Tatter. I added two extra chains for the top and bottom, repeated the edging to make the second side, and joined the small chains in the center to hold it all together.
My friend liked it.

Next are some Valentine's day gifts that I tatted.

Done in size 10. My adorableness is unbearable!

This cute bear came from the book Tatted Animals by Inga Madsen. It was fun because it was my first real attempt at a diagram only pattern. I'm eager to tat some of the other critters from this book!

Done in size 10. Haven't you heard of a purple dolphin?

I've been meaning to tat Jane Eborall's Dolphin for for my sister ever since I first came across it. But the pattern ended up sitting in a folder for a couple of years.
But that ended up being a bit of a good thing, since this pattern had a technique in it that I wouldn't have really known how to do a couple of years ago.
Namely, split chains.
Now, I love split rings. Love them. But until very recently, split chains were terrifying.
I don't quite know why, but they were.
But I was determined to do the two split chains in this pattern.
And I did!
Another thing I learned from this pattern was down picots. What are down picots? A picot that faces down! They are really easy to do, and pretty cool. I like down picots.

Done in size 10. That's quite a hearty red, isn't it?

My tension was a bit off with this heart. The pattern is Heart Frame, from Tatting Hearts by Teri Dusenbury. I don't really have much to say about this piece, other then it was the only heart I tatted for Valentine's day.

Done in size 10. Don't we look cute?

If these look familiar, that's because they are. When I was tatting the bear from Tatted Animals, part of the belly piece looked a lot like a flower. So I decided to tat some as flowers. I like the overlapping picots.

Done in size 10. Still a little rough around the feathers...

This is a griffin. A tatted griffin. I looked all around the internet for a griffin tatting pattern, but couldn't fine one.
So, I decided to try and make one.
It took a few revisions, but I've gotten most of the kinks worked out. The hindquarter is almost entirely made of split rings, while the forequarter is a combination of rings, chains, split chains, split rings, and one thrown ring. With some josephine knots and down picots thrown in for fun.
It was a lot of fun coming up with my own pattern, though there are a few things that still need some tweaking.

As I was working on the griffin, I decided that I want to participate in the 25 Motif Challenge. This means that I'll be trying to tat twenty-five motifs within a year. Am I up to the challenge? I'm going to try!
So to start off the challenge, this griffin will be my first motif!

25 Motif Challenge status: 1/25.

Two birthdays

Just a little while back, two people in my family had their birthdays!
I thought  I would share what I made for them with you.

The first birthday was my grandfather's. For him, I tatted the Whip Cream Frill doily from Tatting Doilies & Edgings by Rita Weiss.

Done in Lizbeth size 20, #134 Mountain Breeze.

He really liked it. This was a fun pattern to tat, though the center turned out a little more squished then I meant for it to.

The next birthday was for a cousin. I tatted her a Spiral Bookmark by Gina.

Done in Lizbeth size 20, #633 Purple - Dk and #640 Antique Violet Med.

This bookmark is really easy to make, and quite fun as well. I like these two purples together.
I think my cousin liked this bookmark.

I've noticed recently that I tend to make fairly small picots, even when it is supposed to be a large picot. This is something I think I'll try working on with my next projects.
Speaking of upcoming projects, I recently worked with a pattern that called for self closing mock rings (SCMR). I'd never really looked into that particular technique before, but found as I tatted the five SCMRs that the pattern called for that I actually quite like making them. So I'll be on the lookout for any other patterns that use this technique.
Oh, and in case you are wondering, I'll be posting the results of that pattern around March first.

So until next time, good luck with your own projects!