Purple tatted set

Back of necklace

The earrings are my Carnival pattern, and the necklace is a design that I made up as I went.

People often ask if I'm going to write it up, but first I think I need to experiment with it awhile. The large medallion wouldn't lay straight until after a lot of blocking with steam, so I'm going to see if there's any way that I could adjust the stitch counts.

The beads were added to the center of rings using a technique that I learned at Jane Eborall's site. I like this technique a lot, so I made a video too. One of the tricky things about adding beads in this way is figuring out how many double stitches will fit around a certain bead. A change in size of bead or thread will need a change in stitch count as well. It's fiddly to do but worth the results, I think.

Beaded ring in progress

The thread I used is Lizbeth size 20 in Country Grape. The round beads are Swarovski Crystal Pearls in Light Green, the seed beads size 11/0, just some that I had in my stash.

I kept the neck cord simple with a zigzag chain, as explained on Tatting Fool's blog.

Olde Rose and Peaches 'n Onions

 "Olde Rose" and "Peaches 'n Onions" hand dyed thread batches have been added to my Etsy shop. I dyed and listed them both at the same time, since they go so well together.

Examples of where I used these threads together include the tatted earrings and necklace shown here. Both designs are original; the earring pattern I still need to write up, but the necklace is my "Duchess" pattern which appears in "Boutique Tatting".

By the way, I just started microblogging on Tumblr. Not that I really needed yet another venue on the Internet, but with Tumblr I'll have short posts that link back to this blog or my Etsy shop. Other folks on Tumblr can re-blog my posts and they will still link to my site, so, it's a great way for artists to get their work seen by people who might not otherwise see it.

I'm also on Pinterest. It's just for bookmarking things that one finds interesting. Not for posting one's own work, but to gather together creative ideas.

...and spears into pruning hooks...

A design to compliment the "Swords Into Plowshares" necklace.
Even though the imagery isn't obvious, I still think they're pretty. And, as a gift to my blog readers:

The earring pattern is available for free!
I've prepared it as a PDF file,
CLICK HERE to download.

Other exciting news: I've been informed that I will soon have a tatting article published in Bead & Button Magazine, in the April 2012 issue. Yippee!

"Swords Into Plowshares" pattern finished

 The pattern for this tatted necklace is finished!
The design was inspired by the Biblical passage, "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks...." Micah 4:3 and Isaiah 2:4.

The file is 6 pages of written instruction, in-progress photos, and a diagram, and is now listed in my Etsy shop. It's quite a challenging project, using techniques that include floating ring, split chain, and bead in center of ring.

In the directions I put, "just a normal join" in several places for clarity - mostly for my own benefit! During the designing process I kept thinking I was going to have to use a Catherine Wheel join somewhere, but didn't need it after all.

As these photos show, I've been having fun trying different color combos while testing the pattern. Several colors that I wanted to use didn't exist in my stash, so of course that means I need to get my dye equipment out for more hand dyed thread batches!

Swords Into Plowshares

It's finished! This is what I was designing, a necklace inspired by the Biblical passage "They shall beat their swords into plowshares...." Micah 4:3 and Isaiah 2:4.

Anyway, I tried to capture in tatting the suggestion of a sword handle with the bottom part flattened into a plowshare, or at least a shovel. The center is colorful and floral-like, an attempt to convey growth and peace. The beads at the center add sparkle and also weight to try to keep the necklace centered.

This is probably too epic of a theme for my limited abilities, but the inspiration came to mind, so I had to try!

Still emerging...another sneak peek

The necklace design is progressing. I have a theme in mind, and am trying to come up with something that expresses that theme. Will do a grand reveal when it is finished...hopefully it will be grand, but if it turns out to be a flop, I'll show that too :)

New necklace design emerging

Either an inspiration, or an obsession, I'm not sure which :)
I've got sort of an idea developing on a rather grandiose theme, to be revealed in the future! The photo is just a sneak peak at my best beginning so far. Now, back to the tatting and tweaking!