No! Don't set your drink there!

Crocheting strikes again!

The ring of moisture shall consume all!

This was an experiment in keeping my rows equal. Then it became practice for a new (to me) crocheting technique, which I do not know the proper name of.
Crocheting is confusing. And annoyingly difficult.
But it gives me something to do when my fingers grow tired of whatever tatting project they've been doing.
So here is a little crocheted coaster, gently used.

Belated birthday post

Well, at least this is only belated in posting, not in actually giving it the person.
This was meant to be posted way back in July, but I kept forgetting about it.
But no more!
Behold, the combined powers of crocheting and tatting!

It reminds me of the ocean. If the ocean was a cute little basket. And not, you know, wet.

I know. The tatting is just a simple edging along the top of the basket. But that crocheting was made by me! Without the use of a pattern! I was pretty excited about this.

Look! You can see through it! A little bit...

I might not like crocheting as much as tatting, but it does have its moments.

Look into the depths of the yarn. What do you see?

My tension with crocheting has been described as "really tight." But I think this turned out pretty well.

I could be a jellyfish, if my tatting was longer...

Through it may have been delayed, here is the crocheted basket with a tatted edging.

The path through a book is long. Remember to bring a friend.

And to finish this post off, here is the other part of her present. A tatted bookmark!
You didn't think that crocheting was going to be the star of this post, did you?

Well, it's been a hoot

Autumn is here. The time has come for leaves to change color and fall from their trees.

As they do, you might catch a glimpse of something hiding in on the branch.

Done in size 20 Lizbeth thread: Mocha Brown Med., Falling Leaves, and Ecru.

This little tatting doodle was for a card. The cute owl is a pattern from the book Tatting Collage by Lindsay Rogers. The branch and berries a quick little addition.

I enjoyed making this, and am eager to try some more patterns from that book.

With a few major holidays on the horizon, I'll be tatting a lot.

I just need to remember to actually post the pictures I take!

Silly procrastination, you've overstayed your welcome once again.

Oh, and not only will there be posts about tatting in the future, but that horrid (to me at least) craft known as crocheting.

You have been warned!

Dreamcatcher III: The Search for Thread

Well, its time for another birthday!
Today was my Aunt's birthday. To help her celebrate, I made a dreamcatcher.

Done in size #20 Lizbeth thread, Tropical Punch.

The base for the center is the Occasional Doily pattern from the book Tatting Doilies & Edgings, edited by Rita Weiss. I then added three rows to make it fit within the ring.

I thought that my aunt would like this pattern because it looks like flowers.

This was my first time tatting this pattern. I quite enjoyed it, and will likely tat part of it again if i ever need to make flowers.

No peacocks were harmed in the gathering of these down feathers.

I tatted an extra flower from the doily pattern to the the hanging motif. I like how the bead is connected the the motif. I decided to use two peacock feathers I had instead of chickens feathers for this dreamcatcher because the fluffiness of them reminded me of this aunt. These feathers are extremely soft.

When I gave the dreamcatcher to my aunt, she was very happy. I'm really glad that she liked it.

Can you pass me another birthday?

Today is my cousin's birthday! To help him celebrate, I tatted him a soda can cozy.

Split rings! Done in size 10.

It fits snugly onto a normal size soda can, and should help to keep the drink cold.

I did it in a dark red and dark blue, so that any spills shouldn't be as noticeable.

Depending on which way he put's it on, it can appear more red then blue when looking from an angle, or the opposite.
Done in all split rings, except for the first and last ring, which are normal rings.
Each ring is 3-3-3-3 or 3-3/3-3, with joins thrown in where appropriate.

A birthday is not something you sneeze on

Today is my uncle's birthday, so I tatted a handkerchief edging for him.

He's a Denver Broncos fan, so I tried to use thread that matched the team's colors. The thread is about size 20.

The pattern is edging number 8822 from the book The Tatter's Treasure Chest, edited by Mary Carolyn Waldrep.

This was tatted using my new Starlit Shuttle, whom I have given the name Narwhal.

Narwhal is quite sparkly.

Narwhal is larger then the Clover shuttles I normally use, which came in handy while tatting the edging; as that meant I could hold more thread at one time. The larger size did throw me off a little at first, but overall the Starlit shuttle seems to work alright.

Progress report

I haven't posted in over a month, so I thought it might be a good idea to show you some of the projects I'm currently working on.

Crocheting! How dare it be so difficult?

First off, a large chunk of my tatting time has been taken by crocheting. In April, I asked my sister to teach me how to crochet. She agreed, so now I know some basics.
But it is so frustrating! I'm not very good at making the stitches loose, since my fingers tend to hold the yarn as if I were tatting. With more practice, I'm sure that I'll be able to make a loose, fancy piece of crocheting.
The above picture is a little hat I crocheted.

Ah, split rings, how I enjoy making you. Winifred and Sunny the shuttles say hello.

Now tatting is so much easier for me then crocheting. My favorite technique would have to be split rings, which is what this project is going to be made mainly of! Using leftover thread from other projects, I'm making a little tatted box to hold a couple rings in. Leaning against Sunny the shuttle is the completed lid of the box, while below is one of the unfinished pieces. The box will have five pieces like that unfinished one: each being made of six rows of six rings, the rings themselves being a pattern of 3-3-3-3 (the 3's being the number of double stitches and the - being a picot, though after the first row some picots will become joins).

Carl and Pandora the shuttles have been hard at work. 925 rings to be exact.

Here is something I've been working on for a while. This is the first half of a tatted bag I'm making. As the tape measure shows, it will be just a little over fifteen inches wide. Each row has sixty rings (3-3-3-3), and I'm on row sixteen. The current plan is to have sixty rows. After it is done, I will tat an identical piece and connect them with a tatted insert also made of split rings. Its a good thing I like split rings, right?

Here is a hint at what has been eating a majority of my tatting time.

Now for this last picture, I'm not going to show you the entire project. Because it is not even close to done! This thing is ridiculously large for my meager crocheting experience, but I'm determined to finished it. This picture does show you how tight my crocheting is though. When I finish the crocheting, I plan on tatting an edging to complete this project.

Well, that's the end of this progress report! I hope all of your works in progress are going well!