Beginnings: a Spring Napkin and an Easter Chicken

Renulek Spring 2021

   During the pandemic I resolved to tat patterns that I have "loved from afar" -- designs lovingly purchased but left to languish in the Land of To Do. It was time to take the plunge and work on my tatting list even if only by one or two To Dos. What better choice than a Spring Napkin?

Taking the Plunge!

   Renulek's patterns are perfection and while other tatters around the world were creating the 2023 Spring Napkin, I "took the plunge" to tat Spring Napkin 2021 (pattern sold on Etsy.com). For round one I chose the warm yellows of Lizbeth 20 #180 Honey Drizzle. Marilee Rockley's hand-dyed colorway Roses is an elegant compliment for round two.

Round one and the start of round two

  

   Those who have attended zoom meetings for Tollway Tatters this year have witnessed the beginnings of my journey through this gorgeous pattern. Here is a snapshot of rounds 1 and 2 complete:

Today I dove into round 3 with Lizbeth 20 #676 Leaf Green Dark.  It is a straightforward, relaxing tat. Very soothing, with no direction changes!

   I am taking the time to enjoy this process and (fingers crossed) building the stamina to keep going once the work gets significantly larger.  Stay tuned!

 

   Just Chicken In: 🐔

   Spring Cleaning project #2 is a 3D Easter Chicken from this Polish magazine: 

 Issue No. 4 Moje Robotki 2008

         The pattern calls for size 10 thread and I chose a Lizbeth Limited Edition color for the body: Lizbeth 10 #9100 Arctic Evening.  It approximates the colors of a Swedish Isbar chicken.

Swedish Isbar Chicken

3D Easter Chicken - humble beginnings

head and neck

       The stitch marker indicates the first ring of each new round.  It helps me to climb out with a split ring at the right spot.

Completing round 6 tail section

   The complete pattern is only seven rounds, so I am almost done with the body. I decided to tat an additional section of tail feathers in a coordinating color for visual interest. Then round 7, and the comb, eyes, beak and wattle. Et voila! My chickie will be complete. Stay tuned!

Aliens in Tat Land: A Closer Look

   This past January, Jane Eborall hosted her annual Tat It And See adventure. She works hard to design, diagram, and deliver an original tatting pattern in bite-size pieces for Tat Land to enjoy.  It is two weeks of creative battery-charging, energy-boosting, doldrums-banishing fun!   

   You can never tell where Jane will take you. Every stage of her game is fun, since it fuels my  imagination to run wild with crazy guesses. (I always try to work in a camel guess early on.) 

   Each new clue jump-starts my creative brain cells and helps me to see design possibilities. This year she had me guessing right up until the very end.

   Without further adieu, I present to you the first of my insinuation of aliens! Chief Blue Meanie from Outer Space!  He is tatted with Lizbeth thread, size 20, #707 – Sky Blue Dark. 

   You know that bittersweet feeling when you get to the end of a very good book? The end of T.I.A.S. each year is a bit like that. It is affecting, conquering new techniques; I have loved the camaraderie; I am delighted by the aliens, and yes, I am sad it's over for 2023. 

I will have alien #2, #3 and #4 to reveal in future posts.  Stay tuned, tatting friends!

“Everyone’s quick to blame the alien.” ~ Aeschylus

Still Working on a Snowflake

"Silently, like thoughts that come and go, the snowflakes fall, each one a gem."  ~ William Hamilton Gibson.

I have been working on a mixed media snowflake for several months now.  Like a delicate snowflake, ideas for it have come and gone, melting before I can turn them into reality. I can only presume that other designers have a clarity of focus - or a process - that enables them to progress more steadily, but this has always been mine.

Mixed Media Heart

I began with an article from the Online Tatting Class (founded by Georgia Seitz) that I had shared in August 2003 called Mixed Media Heart. It was a heart my mother found at a flea market in Florida in 2002. My parents had only just begun their 19-season-long winter treks to sunny North Florida. This heart was found after rummaging through a box of crocheted lace doilies. Haven't we all enjoyed a good rummage through the doilies, looking for tatted treasure? 

Carolyn Groves wrote a pattern for the heart from the photos I sent to Georgia. Thank you  again Carolyn for your excellent work! 

Georgia's original post begins with "There is an old saying that needleworkers should not mix their media."  I believe that old saying is wrong. Throughout history artists have excelled at combining mediums as suited their vision. The 2003 heart mixed tatting with thread crochet. I wanted to reshape it into a snowflake with my own creative vision. With any luck it would be a gem.

Round one combines six tatted rings, chains with decorative picots, and a crocheted chain across the top of the picots to add texture and dimension. 

The decorative picots in round two mirror the technique in round one. A single shuttle split ring bridges the gap nicely, but I needed two threads to tat the next chain. See the problem? Several faltering attempts later (see photo below for the most hopeful of the discarded attempts) I changed the plan again. 

Here is an Instagram photo of a pretty snowflake combining tatting with Turkish needle lace. It is my inspiration for round three, if I can recreate the needle lace. Wish me luck!

"I wish I could press snowflakes in a book like flowers." ~ James Schuyler.

Motif 6: Ribbon Candy Christmas Tree

Ribbon Candy Christmas Tree
Ornament © 2014 Bonnie Swank
Tatted by IsDihara

Since it is Father's Day weekend and "da boyz" are engrossed in father/son activities, I finished up an ornament that Sw4nkyL4c3r (link takes you to her Facebook page) designed for our neighborhood Tatting Social group.

Ornament hung from a vintage
style ceramic Christmas tree

The tatting is a simple ring-and-chain edging strung to resemble ribbon candy. My ornament measures 2 1/2 inches (roughly 7 cm) in length but that measurement would change depending on your bead choice.

I used opaque white seed beads prestrung on Lizbeth® 20 Burgundy #672 thread.

These ornaments look especially nice when strung with pearls or Swarovski crystals.

A snapshot from Sw4nkyL4c3r's Facebook page shows how adorable these ornaments look in different threads and beads.  Isn't she clever?

This was a fun tat for a social setting because tatters of every level could do it. I will be making more of these to hand out as holiday gifts.

If you would like the pattern for this fun little ornament, please contact Sw4nkyL4c3r either through her Facebook page or her email address.

Tell her you saw her Ribbon Candy Ornaments on IsDihara's blog and Facebook!

Tatting Tea Tuesday - Lanyard Update

DH brought me two tasty Teavana tea samples from a recent business trip to Texas, so today I sip a marvelous summertime cuppa Fig Rose herbal tea.  The second sample is Limeade Twist, a refreshing burst of summer citrus. These infusions are like sipping sweet or citrus-y sunshine.

Can I get a high five?  I made it to 22 inches (55.88 cm) on my Beaded Lanyard project.
Here are two photos taken when I was at the 18-inch mark.

Beaded Lanyard © 2008 Patti Duff
Tatting by Is'Dihara 

Patti Duff designed this lovely pattern. More beautiful images of her design can be viewed by clicking on this link from the ShuttleBirds Spotlight, April 15, 2014 - Patti's Lanyard and More

It is still a challenge to capture the colors of this lanyard properly and get a clear image of the stitches. The lanyard is prettier than the images show.

Wishing you all blissful me time to create something beautiful. See you next Tuesday for more communi-tea!

Corina's Crown, Take Two

Crown tatted by IsDihara, February 2014

Can you believe the mistake with Corina's Crown was staring me in the face and I didn't see it?

Crowns tatted by Corina van Krieken, April 2013

Chalk it up to stitch count error, not a botched technique.  The hat band section of the diagram clearly shows three groups of four (4) stitches for rows one and two.  I tatted three groups of six (6) so of course I got a misshapen chapeau. Recalibrated stitch counts fixed the problem and the crown tatted up a treat.

No idea why I thought Corina's perfectly written 4's were 6's.  I had an easy point of comparison in the sixes Corina wrote for the top of the crown. I make these mistakes so you don't have to!

It was fun trying out the other methods of block tatting so I call this a win-win learning experience with a regal crown to show for my efforts.

Motif 3: Corina's Crown

The first Tatting Tea Tuesday in February dawned with a desire to tat a golden crown.  So off I zoom through the pixels and bits of Pinterest to find Corina from the Nethlands' lovely design:  Tatting Crown - free pattern.

Here is a photo of Corina's crowns.

Crowns tatted by Corina van Krieken, April 2013

Here is my first attempt.

Crown tatted by IsDihara, February 2014

Motif 3 - Corina's Crown
Crown tatted using the Lock Stitch method of block tatting.  Thread choice is Lizbeth^® 20 Gold #611.

In recent years I have grown used to my results more closely matching the pattern photo, so this crown came as a bit of a surprise.

Don't get me wrong. It is a very nice crown. But mine does not mirror the tight brow band or the regal height of Corina's crowns. The stitch count is exactly the same.

This is precisely why I love tatting.  Two people can tat the same thing and get slightly different-looking results. Hmmm, what to do if I want more Corina-esque crowns?

Martha Ess provides the answer for the base. Try a different method of block tatting.

Martha's book "Holidays on the Block" describes four methods of block tatting and shares the advantages and disadvantages of each one. My first attempt uses the lock stitch method (The one with which I am most familiar.) As for the rest, I need to tat a few more crowns to get the exact look that I like.

This crown is very pretty.  But the quibbler in me wants to sample techniques to see if I can get the same look as Corina did with her crowns.  Besides, this crown took no time at all to tat so why not tat a few more?

I will update this post with attempts 2 and 3 as I squeeze them in around (the dreaded) household chores and Day 11 of TIAS.  Stay tuned or check back for progress!

Wishing you all blissful me time to create something beautiful. See you next Tuesday for more communi-tea!

Holy Smokes!

This post is peppered with wacky, 1960s-era exclamations from the TV series Batman in response to a challenge from a Facebook friend. How many of Robin's campy quips do you remember?^*

Holy Encore, did I just win again?

Joe the Egg and Shaky Bacon dressed-up as the Dynamic Duo
Artist - Dan Goodsell

A Watercolor Painting of two characters from "The Imaginary World" of a Cartoonist named Dan Goodsell. He has a comic strip called "Mr. Toast" and these are his two friends, JOE THE EGG and SHAKY BACON. Dan's artwork is a lot of fun. Click the caption to see more of his work.

Holy Triple Feature Twirlz! I am a winner in the Lizbeth^® Twirlz^® brand thread-naming contest. Three of my color names were chosen.

Please join me in congratulating all of the winners of Lizbeth^® Twirlz^® size 20 thread. Y'all rock!

Here are the colorways I helped to name.

(Holy) Candy Hearts! #401!

Color winners Dale Ryman & Karen Beary Parent

(Holy) Purpleberry! #402!

Color winners Yolande Harrison & Karen Beary Parent

(Holy) Mermaid Lagoon! #404!

Color winners Carollyn Brown & Karen Beary Parent

Holy Jackpot, Batman!

"I won HOW many balls of free thread? ...No, seriously."

That's what I said when I got the details. Seventy five balls of thread. Holy Give Away!

I have chosen to gift CrazyMom with a dozen balls of free thread since all of her lovely stash, tools, beads, doodads, gifts and goodies burned in the fire that completely razed her home a week ago.

Some is being donated to my local yarn shop so that tatters who "feel the desire but are light in the wallet" can pick from the free thread bin.

I am donating some to the Piedmont Lace Guild of Virginia so that they can continue to teach beginning lace students.

And lastly, I am keeping some for myself.

^*  More wacky catchphrases can be found at HolySmokesBatman.com

One last Batman and Robin bit, which I originally had seen on TattingChic's blog.

Get it right, Robin.  LOL!

Motifs 1 & 2: Confirmation Bookmark

Confirmation Bookmark 2013

Q:  What do you get when when you cross a Dove and a Phone Box?
A:  a Confirmation bookmark  
(Click and drag mouse over answer to reveal.)

Miss me?   (Not after that joke, I'll wager.)

I wanted to offer up a fractured song lyric today but my brain is a-buzz with Sapling jokes (the variety found to be funny by first graders).  Let's try this one that Sapling told in this morning's carpool:

Knock, knock
Who's there?
Doctor
Doctor who?
You know my name!

25 Motif Challenge - A 3rd Go
I resolve to begin a 3rd 25 Motif Challenge in 2014. The goal of this challenge will be to keep me tatting regularly. Oh, and finish in one calendar year if I can.

Dove © Jane Eborall 2011
Tatted by IsDihara 2013

Motifs 1 & 2 - Bookmark for a Boy's Confirmation
Jane Eborall's Dove will launch my first tat --  a Confirmation bookmark. Didn't it turn out nicely?

Threads used are Lizbeth^® 20 Christmas Red for the bookmark and Lizbeth^® 20 601 Snow White for the dove. Patterns used for the two elements are Dove © Jane Eborall 2011 and T.A.R.D.I.S. bookmark © Anne Bruvold 2009.

T.A.R.D.I.S. bookmark © Anne Bruvold 2009
Tatted by IsDihara 2013 - 2014

Doctor Who fans will giggle knowing that I chose a T.A.R.D.I.S. pattern for the body of the bookmark. (Doesn't the top half resemble a red T.A.R.D.I.S.?) The white dove is designed by Jane Eborall in the UK. Doves and the color red are symbolic of Confirmation so I am told.

The connecting cord is braided, encapsulating the thread ends into "cobra" braid used in paracord survival bracelets. Cobra braid is basically a series of shoe-lace tricks tied around a core.

OK, one last joke...  (Are you groaning?)

Q:  What do you call a camel with no humps?
A:  Humphrey
(Click and drag mouse over answer to reveal.)

Have a marvelous Tatting Tea Tuesday everyone. Wishing you all blissful me time to create something beautiful. See you next Tuesday for joke-free communi-tea!

Missing out

Yesterday I missed a lovely Tatting Tea Tuesday gathering because of contract work. The weather was gorgeous, the two tatting ladies delightful.  It was an afternoon of "Tatting on the Farm."

Instead of tatting with the ladies in Virginia horse country, I tatted in my tatting corner. It is a nice corner, but it doesn't have a view of horses frisking in the field or the Autumn splendor of the Shenandoah Valley. Next time I will go!

This is what I am working on (using two of my shuttles made by Georgia and Richard Seitz):

IsDihara's Dove - a work in progress

Does anyone recognize the pattern?  Here is a closer look:

IsDihara's Dove - a work in progress

The pattern is:  Dove © Jane Eborall 2011 and HER dove, pictured below, is 100% finished and looking splendid!

DOVE © JANE EBORAL 2011
All Rights Reserved

For my dove, Lizbeth 40 Snow White thread is being used with opaque white seed beads and a black bead for the eye.  It will adorn a bookmark (in place of a tassel) that I am making as a gift. A friend's son is being confirmed at the end of November. Doves and the color red are symbolic of Catholic Confirmation ceremonies.

Let's cross our fingers that my dove will look a fraction as good as Jane's. I can but hope. Jane does such incredible work.

And speaking of work, it is nose back to the grindstone for me.  À tout à l'heure! (See you soon!)

Motif 25 - Magenta Monster Mollusk

A few weeks ago I was asked by a young girl if I would tat her a small animal -- a pink octopus like the one I had on the display table during one of my summer tatting demos.

So I grabbed my shuttles and began a test tat.

The magenta-colored head tatted up perfectly. 'I got this,' I thought and pressed on.

 I make these mistakes so you don't have to
Almost immediately I misunderstood the directions, not noticing my error until four limbs had been completed.  (So very like me, and precisely the reason for test tatting a piece first.) I ended up with NINE limbs instead of eight.

Motif 25 Nonny the Nonapus
May I present my strange creation and the head of his soon-to-be eight-limbed cousin? Here Nonny is holding up his claim to fame.

Nonny is tatted using Lizbeth^®  20 Magenta Dk 618. He measures about 1.5 inches (3.81 centimeters).

EDIT:  The pattern for Martha's adorable octopus can be found on page 14 of her book, "New Critters on the Block."

Test tat of Octopus © 2006 Martha Ess,
Tatted by IsDihara 2013

This completes my second 25 Motif Challenge.  I finished it in less than 2 years, an improvement from my first challenge.  (FYI--if one motif is tatted and posted within a two-week period it should take no more than one year to complete the challenge.)

I am not disappointed with my timing, just being aware of it.  The challenge isn't about racing to meet a deadline. Completing the challenge gives me a great sense of accomplishment and keeps me tatting on a regular basis.  Both are good things.

So I will carry on for a 3rd Challenge, so long as you readers aren't hopelessly bored.  Completing my class projects from Tat Days 2012 will be the goal for the first part of this new challenge. Hearts and Beanile lace jewelry and critters, oh my!

More Monster Mollusks
If you would like to read more about monster mollusks, two links to stories about real-life nonapus (or enneapus) are included below.

• Susami, a blue-ringed octopus: Nine-limbed octopus gives aquarium a leg up
• Common octopus: Nine-tentacled octopus

"Strange beauty, eight-limbed and eight-handed Whence camest to dazzle our eyes?" 
~Arthur Clement Hilton

Motif 24 - German Triangle Motif

For Tatting Tea Tuesday I decided to forego tea and focus on creating a new blog header. Still tweaking the fonts, but doesn't the lace look good in succulent summer colors?

Inspired by Jeff Hamilton (Bridge City Tatting) and Fox (Tat-ology), I have blithely jumped on the bandwagon for Susanne Schwenke's triangle motif.  The pattern and diagram are available in her book "Spitzen-Kreationen" on pages 42-43.

Susanne Schwenke triangle motif
tatted by IsDihara

Thread used is Lizbeth® 20 #156 Juicy Watermelon. I was using up leftovers from the Jane's Bookmark Cross I made at the end of May. This triangle is so nice to tat and gave me good practice working only from a diagram.

The backdrop is one of my fingerless gloves. The soft halo the Angora fibers give the lace is quite pleasing. Here is another look at the gloves:

Hand-spun Angora
knit fingerless gloves, top

One side is smooth and the other is ribbed so it is like having two sets of gloves in one.

Hand-spun Angora
knit fingerless gloves, bottom

Wishing you all blissful me time to create something beautiful. See you next Tuesday for more communi-tea!

Double Cross

The first Tatting Tea Tuesday of summer started out with me sipping an iced green tea Nojito.  I make my own mint syrup, adding several splashes of lime to the green tea plus a fresh sprig or two of mint.  YUM!  Feel free to add rum if you prefer a Mojito-tea concoction.

Two Jane's Bookmark Crosses
Designed by Grace Tan/Jane McLellan
Tatted by IsDihara 2013

This week I completed a second Jane's Bookmark Cross. One for each of Sapling's Kindergarten teachers. These turned out great! Both are lovely and were a joy to tat. Sapling's last day of school is June 13, 2013, so I even completed them before deadline.  Perhaps the most amazing part!

This second cross is tatted in Lizbeth® 20 #149 Peacock Blues. It measures three (3) inches in length (7.62 cm) and two (2) inches wide (5.08 cm).

Hats off again to Grace Tan who cleverly adapted Jane McClelland's bookmark pattern into a cross.  And gratitude also to Jane McLellan who adapted her bookmark from a braid that appeared in the May 1984 Anna Burda magazine.  Such amazing talent from these two tatting ladies.

Jane's Bookmark Cross pattern PDF may be downloaded from the Tatting Class Homework page: New Pattern from Grace Tan

Ramblings and a Sneak Peek

To kick off summer tatting season I had wanted to tat another Celtic Strawberry Heart by Birgit Phelps or one of Martha Ess' charming Split Ring Ladybugs (pattern available on Palmetto Tat Days 2009 Pattern CD).  Alas, with the stitching I am doing I wasn't able to start either project.

It seems the Piedmont Palm Frond group was the lone sponsor of a decorated wall hanging this year. We had been keeping mum about our theme but I see no reason to keep it under wraps any longer. Here's a sneak peek at our whimsical blue-eyed penguins:

Playful penguins wall hanging for
2013 Tat Days fund-raising auction.

There will be more to discover about these capricious penguins at Palmetto Tat Days in September.  The wall hanging will have hand-stitched applique, couching and some bead work as well as tatting and bobbin lace. My hope is that such fun-loving sea-birds will be in demand on auction night.

Motif 22 - Itty Bitty Beach Ball

Beach Ball tatted by IsDihara

Can you believe that overnight my corner of Tat Land had a frost and this afternoon the temperature is expected to rise to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.67 degrees Celcius)?

Frost in mid-May is freaky in my little corner of Tat Land. As weird weather patterns increasingly become the norm (Two weeks ago an unprecedented 18" (45.72 cm) of snow fell on Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.) I pine for warmth and sun.

This itty bitty beach ball evokes sun-soaked feelings and playful memories. Sunshine seems to follow beach balls where ever they go, so tat a beach ball if you too are ready for summer sun!

In the photo above the beach ball has been lightly starched to hold its shape and is drying around a ping pong ball. (This is only the second time in my life I have starched a piece of tatting.)

Here is a better photo:

Beach Ball tatted by IsDihara

This beach ball is adapted from a balloon pattern found in the Ring of Tatter's 25th anniversary book (page 42). The balloon has been designed by French tatter Edwige Renaudin. Only slight stitch count modifications were needed to transform a delightful balloon into a playful beach ball. 

Threads used were:

Lizbeth^®  20 # Golden Yellow Medium
Lizbeth^®  20 #671 Christmas Red
Lizbeth^®  20 #652 Royal Blue
Lizbeth^®  20 #601 Snow White  (optional)

If your little corner of Tat Land is bouncing like a beach ball between bizarre weather patterns, perhaps you should set your sights on tatting something evocative of fun-filled days.

Wishing you all blissful me time to create something beautiful. See you next Tuesday for more communi-tea!

Motif 21 - Pram Pride

IsDihara's TIAS 2013 complete!

These darling baby carriages will count as Motif 21 for my 25 Motif Challenge. 

For those who like to know, here are the threads I used to create these cuties: 

Lizbeth 20 #168 Latte Foam for the body of the pram on the left.
Lizbeth 20 #125 Sea Scape for the body of the pram on the right.

Lizbeth 20 #603 Ecru for the wheels and handles.

What does your pram say about you?  

Mine say that I LOVED tatting January's mysterious and whimsical TIAS.  It was brilliant!  The releases kept me guessing well past the half-way mark. (It is the guessing that I like most of all.)

In fact, I stopped tatting on the last installment to tackle Sapling's 6th birthday party and a few other real-life bits, but kept putting it off JUST so the fun wouldn't end. (Crazy logic, I know.)  Eventually they called to me to be tidied up and taken out for a stroll.

Merci mille fois, Jane, for giving us this delightful game to play. It sure was fun!

Here is a quick guide for deciphering what your baby's actions are when in an outward-facing pram.  If the person walking toward you:

• Smiles or comments about how cute your child is = Baby is asleep.
• Gives you pitying looks = Baby is crying.
• Looks of horror = Baby is covered in vomit or the wind has stuck a crisp packet to it’s face

(I found these amusing tips on a blog post entitled "What does your pram say about you?") 

And last, but not least, is this image of the limited edition BMW Pram Royal Baby Stroller. I hadn't seen it before. Apologies if your little corner of Tat Land has been inundated with it.

 

Tatting Tea Tuesday - Petal Progress

Two sample lily petals,
Beads added to petal - lower left

For a long time I have wanted to create a 3D Stargazer lily. (Or several lilies for a stem, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.) So I decided to use the pattern for a single petal as the April tatting social at my LYS. I started tatting petals and taught others to tat them too.Win - win!

Three petals complete

Six petals are needed for a 3D lily. I have made three so far. Hurray! Half-way to first flower.
Edit:  This free PDF pattern is available from Linda Davies' site: Tattyhead

Stargazer Lilies in my front yard (July, 2008)

See the gorgeous dark flecks in the petals? I tried adding cranberry-colored seed beads to mimic them. (See top image) My size 15 Miyuki beads are a bit too small, but the color is perfect!

Stargazer Lilies in my front yard (July, 2008)

Stargazer (as are most) lilies are uplifting and majestic -- a perfect choice for Tatting Tea Tuesday. Wishing you all blissful me time to create something beautiful. See you next Tuesday for more communi-tea!