Lil' Black Border Revisited

Maybe because Jane from South Africa is tatting an edging?  Today I have been thinking about the Lil' Black Border pattern I learned to tat back in the 1980s.  (And a slew of other projects...)

Alas, too many tatting To Dos are already queued to start an edging. Unless, of course, it is Be-stitched's Tatted Holly Edging.

There is also Tatman's Back to School Apple, Gina Brummett's Gingerbread Boy, Yarnplayer's Small Maple Leaf earrings and a paperclip horse designed by Ineke Kuiperij.  (The design comes from her Chess Set booklet.) The paperclip horse was shared with the Palmetto Tatting group by Pam Freck, Katharine Buckner and Riet Surtel-Smeulders.

See what I mean about distractions?  *whine* But I have Norma Benporath's Lace Mat to finish. And at least one more charity project snowflake to complete before November 3^rd...

Hand-dyed threads (HDTs) are whispering too. 

• Karey Solomon's Hobbit (pictured left)
• Lady ShuttleMaker's Witches Brew 
• Yarnplayer's Sugar Maple
• Tatskool's Brackin Crunch 
• Tat-ilicious' (I have forgotten the name.)

It is not "4-Eva," not Fancy Fields, not Blue Tango...

All these HDTs are vying for attention. Oh, good grief!

Maybe I'll tat a football instead:  Tatman's Superbowl Shuttle & Pattern

Secret Revealed: Ornaments

Today I sit down with a fresh-made pot of aromatic Tazo^® Passion and Celestial Seasonings^® Moroccan Pomegranate Red tea to work on holiday tatting projects and catch up on backlogged blog posts.

First things first, revealing the project I alluded to in my December 2nd post  — partridges for my purple-themed holiday tree. See one peeking coyly over her shoulder? Isn't she a beauty? I think the cardinal is jealous.

The idea was to create partridges and pears out of wool felt. For a pattern I started with a screen capture of the cartoon partridge from the 70's sitcom, The Partridge Family.  (The opening sequence with the theme song is available on YouTube.) From there it was easy to make pattern pieces.

Partridge Pattern Pieces
Here is a flat scan of the tatted wings. I added a few glass beads to give it some sparkle. Tatman's shuttle motif adds just the right je ne sais quoi to make this handmade bird stand out.

Partridge Wings with TattingShuttle Motif © 2002 Mark Myers

What about the pears?

For these, I used a wool knit fabric the color of red Anjou pears. Then I added needle felted roving to add dimension. It was my first attempt at needle felting and it was a lot of fun to do. I made six of these last year and ended up giving them all away to friends who fell in love with them. So I made more this year.

Needle-felted Pear Ornament
The pattern for this comes from the book Warm Fuzzies: 30 Sweet Felted Projects, by Betz White, in case you want to try your hand at making them too.

I love how my Anjou pear turned out. Even if you've never needle felted before (like me) you can do it and it will look good! Plus the stabbing motion made with the felting needle helps relieve pent-up holiday tension. LOL!

My goal for 2010 is to showcase tatting in more mixed media projects. Wishing you all successful and joyful holiday crafting in the days and weeks to come!