Tuesday, February 2, 2010

♫ 99 Tatting Posts on the Wall ♫

Crazy Mom Tats announcement of her 100th post giveaway sent me looking to see how far away I was from 100 posts. Surprise! A lot closer than I thought.

Since I have a giveaway started, I will have to find something else to amuse you all with for my 100th post. But what?

Here is your chance to heckle. Go ahead, yell something out from the inky black. Oh wait, (much like in space) I won't hear you scream. Better leave a comment. ツ

Tatting Tea Tuesday
Even though today was a perfect day for hot tea, I opted for quick and easy. A tall pour of iced green apple tea from the pitcher in the fridge. This stuff is fabulous hot or cold.

Green Apple Tea
1 gallon water
6 green tea bags
1/2 gallon apple cider or apple juice
(I use (6) Alpine Lace Spiced Cider packets, plus 6 cups water, if I don't have either on hand.)

Optional:
Honey, to taste
1-2 shots Green Apple Pucker (to give it a hint of "green apple" tartness)

This makes a lovely hot toddy with a shot of liquor added to your mug -- either more Green Apple Pucker or something that is more appealing to you, if you are not a fan of the neon green stuff. It is perfectly lovely as is. I drink this tea year round. YUM!

Sweet or Sinful Indulgence?
Now for the tatting. Last week Liyarra posted her gorgeous doily made from a Lene Bjorn pattern in the Danish Tatting Guild (Dansk Orkisforening) newsletter Orkis Bladet. I have had no luck contacting the guild (probably because I wrote in English). Would someone who speaks Danish kindly translate my request for me?

Here's where the tatting gets dubious. Instead of waiting for a reply or a pattern, I enlarged the image from Liyarra's blog and tatted the central motif from her photo. Bad, bad manners! My tatting grandmother would ground me. Here is the evidence of my deceit.


You can see that my chain tension is off (the hearts aren't even) but even so I can't take my eyes off  this pretty. It is so lovely in Tatskool's ChocoRaspberry size 40.

Tatting this motif actually tested my chocolate resolve. Couldn't stop thinking about Godiva Raspberry Cordials. I had to put it down several times to go hunting for chocolate to nibble.


This week I finished the edging in Bracken Crunch and am stitching it onto a quilted ball ornament. The pattern is available on the InTatters group under the Knots - Tatting Links tab. The file is called Beeton Edge. If the link doesn't take you directly to the page you may need to register to access the Knots folder.

And I finished two more itty-bitty shamrocks. The pattern is from "The Tatted Artistry of Teiko Fujito."



Wishing you all blissful me time to create something beautiful.

See you next Tuesday for more communi-tea!

15 comments:

Carol Schockling Lawecki said...

Love it, Love it Love it. I felt the same way about that center with the hearts like you did. This is such a beautiful design and the Choc. Rasp. is such a pretty color HDT.

And I can't wait to see your quilted ball with the tatted edge!

Happy Tatting

Fox said...

Such gorgeous threads! I really like that border done in Bracken Crunch. Very pretty!
Fox : )

Tatskool said...

oooeeeee! I can't wait to see the quilted ball with the tatted edging either!! only kidding. The motif looks wonderful even if it is a little wonky.
You made my mouth pucker with your tea description.Haven't heard of most of those ingrediants.

Unknown said...

Your tatted goodies look delightful if not delicious! Congrats on your near 100 posts! :)

Gina said...

Of course, I can't remember where now, but I remember reading where to get the newsletter. Ann? maybe?

This center reminded me of another and I think it is one of Lynn Morton's patterns. I love this one though. Wish I had time to tat it!

IsDihara said...

Carol, I will make good and get the pattern so I don't continue with bad-mannered behavior. Promise! ツ

Fox, you make me blush. The threads are beautiful, but I can't take any credit, except for being an unrepentant thread junkie!

Tatskool, sounds like I need to send you a care package with some green tea (decaf or regular?) and apple cider drink packets.

TattingChic, thanks for dropping by! Thanks for your compliments and support.

Gina, I will inquire of Ann about the newsletter. Of course, I don't read Danish, so I wonder how much of it I will be able to understand? (Thank goodness for diagrams.)

And now I'm off to pore over my Lyn Morton books to find her motif!

Tatskool said...

Thanks IsDihara, you are very caring!
Green tea I do have, it's the only bit that I recognise. You name so many unusual ones.
We hardly ever drink real tea but green tea is an exception as i know it's got good stuff in it!

IsDihara said...

Tatskool, *chuckles* Yes, the antioxidant power of green tea is a marvel. Everyone should drink green tea!

For the longest time I would receive unusual gifts of tea for birthdays and holidays. I never tire of tea gifts, but I guess others do, as I haven't received a tea gift in almost 4 years. That's okay! Tatting giveaways and trades are filling the void nicely.

Vanessa said...

The Beeton edge is beautiful and I love your choice of colour.

What do you use your shamrocks for?

Also, how do you manage to add hyperlinks to your blog?

IsDihara said...

Rosa's original comment (that included SPAM at the bottom) was deleted and I have cut-n-pasted the first part back in for her benefit.

Rosa Goncalves said...
Oi amiga,

Vim fazer uma visitinha, adorei os trabalhos!

IsDihara said...

Vanessa, thank you for your kind compliments!

I am making shamrocks for a gift bouquet. Details on that project to come soon!

Kathy Niklewicz said...

Hi Isdahara,

Beautiful job on all three patterns! Such neat tatting. Love the shamrocks, since I'm part Irish!

Gina is correct that there is a similar 'hearts' pattern by Lyn Morton. She has a free pattern on her website (Google 'Tatting and Design')called "Hearts and Flowers". Apparently, it's also in her book "Tatting Patterns".

Also, beautiful thread and rendition of the Beeton Edge. Thanks for the link!

IsDihara said...

Vanessa, sorry I didn't respond to your hyperlink question in my previous comment.

Blogger makes it easy to add hyperlinks. Just click on the link button in your compose post window.

If you don't use blogger, you can always add the html hyperlink code yourself. Here is a link to learn how: http://www.hyperlinkcode.com/make-hyperlink.php

Vanessa said...

Thanks Isdihara

I can't find the options from Blogger (perhaps I don't use Blogger....), but your link to the website helped. I have now placed a hyperlink into my blog. Hoorah!

Liyarra said...

Hi IsDihara,.
You will not be able to read much of the articles in the Danish newsletter but the patterns are mostly diagrammed and after a while the tatting terms in Danish become quite familiar.
Checked - Lyn Morton's version of that pattern is definitely available free on her website.

Nice copy of the photo though.....!!