Before I go off on a dead battery rant, (We've all been there, right?) it is time to confess. I did not tat over the holidays (*gasp* Horrors!) but have started tatting again.
Here are my current works in progress.
Goodness! Please pardon the sad state of my apple accent rug. I swear I vaccuum it. There is nothing like a tatting photo to really show the lint and dirt, eh?
Lately Lady Grey tea has been helping me get back in the tatting swing after an extended bout of "winter plague." Thankfully everyone at Silly Hat Central is recovered and healthy.
The photo shows three projects in the hopper, with Jane Eborall's TIAS making four! I haven't yet done today's TIAS Day 1 bit, but will post my progress once complete.
The lavender satin Christmas ball will have this simple motif attached at the top and bottom. I am playing around with a strip of dark purple edging for the middle, if I decide the top and bottom pieces leave too much empty space around the center. Stay tuned for the finished product.
Next up is a bookmark-in-progress using Lizbeth® 20 Autumn Apple Pie #169. The pattern is the marvelous Broomstick Tatted Bookmark © 2010 Martha Ess.
Dirt aside, the apple rug shows the close match of the color chosen to represent the flesh of the apples. Sort of a pale, greyish white offsets the rich red and golden tones. Lint, dust specs and dog hair are not part of the plan. (sigh)
A whole separate post about Autumn Apple Pie is coming in a few weeks, but for now let me say that I am (as I suspect many of you are) dissatisfied with this colorway.
Remember my post from September 15, 2011, ♥ Lizbeth® is here ♥? Autumn Apple Pie was my favorite of the lot.
On the ball this colorway looks good enough to eat. I stand by that assessment.
But let me come right out and say it -- tatted up, this colorway does not deliver the way many other Lizbeth® colorways do. In some cases the colors "pool," in other cases the resulting lace resembles a dog's breakfast. Or worse, the by product of a dog's breakfast.
Here is the same bookmark tatted using Lizbeth® 20 #125 Seascape:
Motif #15 - Broomstick Tatted Bookmark
What makes #125 Seascape so enchanting and #169 Autumn Apple Pie fall flat? Is it the irregular lengths of the colors? Is it the way they blend (or don't blend) together? Is it the pale, greyish white that throws off everything else?
These are the questions I am willing to get to the bottom of.
Hey, that last line reminds me of a movie...was it Sleepless in Seattle? When Tom Hanks talks to his son Jonah about starting to date again?
The final unfinished snippet of lace is a half-finished heart tatted in Lizbeth® 20 Purple Iris Fusion #162. Even half-done this heart looks splendid. Captivating colors in pleasant progressions that add to the appeal of the end product are what I am accustomed to with Lizbeth® threads.
But I digress...the heart pattern is called Broad-Shouldered Heart © 2004 Karey Solomon. It appears on page 23 of her booklet Hearts Belong to Tatting.
SwankyL4c3r, my needle-tatting pal, chose this heart for a Valentine-themed tat-a-long (TAL) held on Sunday, January 8, 2012. What a fun afternoon we had, tatting this winsome heart! The only change to the pattern is the ring making the heart's bottom point.
White seed beads add a dainty outline to the sweet shape, don't they? Can't wait to finish this one.
Well, I have rambled on a whole lot longer than intended. Thank you for sticking with me through the end!
Wishing you all blissful me time to create something beautiful. See you next Tuesday for more communi-tea and some finished projects!
Ah, I thought it was just me. I love that color on the ball but just haven't been moved to tat much more with it. Maybe a few suggestions to Handy Hands would help? They've made changes before when customers (enough of them) didn't like something (see post on "natural" colored thread.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the dead battery. Bummer!
I haven't started the TIAS yet, either. I had my thread and shuttles with me to wind and start and realized I didn't have any beads! But I'm looking forward to joining the challenge:)
I have to agree with you on Autumn Apple Pie. But most colorways look great!
ReplyDeleteGlad you're feeling better.
That heart is going to look gorgeous!
Very nice tattings! :)
ReplyDeleteI think the bookmark will look very nice when finished! :)
And that heart is beautiful!!! :)
Helloooooooooo, Ambi!
ReplyDeleteI think some colorways have just too much contrast and not enough transition from one colorway to the other causing the jarring of one's eyes when looking at a worked up project. That's my story!
Hugs!
I think colorways are very interesting.....I have been thinking that if the colors blend together well like the colors of "Blue River Glades"(my favorite of the new colors) then the length of each individual color can be a little longer but if the colors are distinct then the actual lenght of each color should be shorter.....so that the colors fall better in the tatted piece.....I hope you understand what I mean.
ReplyDeleteBravo pour cette très jolie petite pièce raffinée à souhait. Grosses bises et bonne année à toi.
ReplyDeleteThe colours which have white in them never look as good as the more solid variegates - but there are so many other lovely colours that I just avoid buying anything with white!
ReplyDeleteI don't know how I missed this post. I realized this morning that I hadn't read anything from you in a while, and thought I'd better check up in you! I'm glad I did.
ReplyDeleteI think I did buy a ball of Autumn Apple Pie, but I haven't gotten to it yet. Maybe I'll just leave it on the ball for now... if I find it! ; )
I do like the bookmark in progress, but the color placement does seem a bit off.
I'm going to be looking for posts more carefully in the future!