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!
