Found! "Carnival" Earring Pattern

Found in my computer files! My original free pattern (from 2007) for the "Carnival" earrings.

Download the PDF file HERE.

This is another of the designs that Annie's purchased to publish in the book "Tatted Jewelry". Since the original was available for free on my blog in 2007 it seems reasonable to re-post it.

Old file issue: When previewing in a Chrome browser, the PDF has annoying yellow boxed annotations when mousing over the photos. No worries, those yellow boxes are gone in the downloaded file.

Pizazz

Brilliant red orange shading to dark red, Pizazz is another autumn inspired hand dyed thread. I've nothing finished yet to show, but have made a start.

The beautiful Calla Lily shuttle is from TheKnottedVine on Etsy. The tatting is the beginning of a Trendy Teardrop earring.

By the way, I have brought back my original pattern from 2011 for Trendy Teardrop and listed it on Etsy. It's the same design that Annie's purchased from me to publish in the book Tatted Jewelry, but from looking at my communications with them I've found that I'm allowed to sell my original self-published pattern on Etsy. Which is good, because the book is out of print and I don't get any royalties whatsoever on Annie's PDF of Tatted Jewelry.

If you use Facebook you may have noticed my page and profile are not there anymore. I did NOT get hacked. I just decided that Facebook was taking up way too much of my time and energy, so I "temporarily" deactivated my account. I'm still on Instagram, which is simply pretty pictures and a happier place. Twitter is where I put pictures that aren't pretty enough for Instagram ;)

Tatted Dalek Went to the Maker Faire

That's me with my tiny tatted Dalek meeting a big Dalek at the Maker Faire Milwaukee.
We're all beaming with excitement!

Close-up of the tatted lace Dalek. (A Dalek is a character from the television series Doctor Who.)
Yes, this one is my original tatting design. No pattern......just...no. Exterminate! ☺☺☺
Seriously, I used the techniques of a bead inside a ring and block tatting. I made the gun and sucker arm from wire and a saucer bead. The lights, eye stalk, and globes are beads.

Here I am with my tatting display at Maker Faire Milwaukee.
Many people stopped to ask questions and watch me demonstrate shuttle tatting.
I gave single ring tatted butterflies away to the children.

A collection of big Daleks and the Tardis (Time And Relative Dimension In Space) as seen in the TV series "Doctor Who".
This particular Tardis was not bigger on the inside, but fortunately these Daleks were friendly!

There were many astounding science exhibits. I was able to leave my tatting booth long enough to see this Tesla coil in action.

I don't know the story behind these jelly fish lights, but they were impressive with their size, changing colors and twinkling!

 A Maker Faire is a great event to see amazing creativity in action for both kids and adults. If one takes place in your area, I highly recommend that you go see it! Even better, sign up as a Maker and demonstrate what you make!

Lark's Head Picot Join from the Back Side

 The Lark's Head Picot Join looks just like a double stitch (on the front side). There are several tutorials for how to do it online, but the ones I found all showed how to do it from the front side of the tatting. I simply reversed those instructions to tat it from the back side.

Note: double stitches are in reverse order when tatting back side (2nd half first, 1st half second).

Earrings, Fall, and Orchestra

Finished 4 pairs this week! 

I decided to wire wrap earwires for each pair, including matching seed beads in the wire. I used natural niobium wire, a pure, precious metal that is very unlikely to cause an allergic reaction in anyone. The pattern is One Shuttle Glamour, found in the book Boutique Tatting.

Next up, fall colors. Sometime next week fresh batches of hand dyed thread will begin to be added to my Etsy Shop. I'll probably do Sugar Maple first (shown on the leaf in the photo below) and follow with Pizazz (the leaf I just started).

Some blog followers also are interested in the fact that I am a serious amateur cellist. I play at church with the choir and I'm also a member of the Wisconsin Intergenerational Orchestra. The orchestra rehearsals begin next week, and the date for the next concert has been set for December 14. Can you find me in the picture below?

One Shuttle Glamour in progress

Earrings in progress from my "One Shuttle Glamour" pattern in Boutique Tatting.

 Somehow this pattern begged to be tatted after lying dormant in my first book, Boutique Tatting, for 10 years! It still works! The title, "One Shuttle Glamour" implies easy, but actually it's a bit of a challenge with all the long beaded picots coming off a mock ring around a bead.

On the later earrings, I've begun trying a Lark's Head Picot Join (I learned from Karen Cabrera's video on YouTube) to join the tatted rings to the long beaded picots. Many thanks to Karen for her awesome videos!

So far I like this tweak - although most folks wouldn't notice the difference. I'm tatting the rings back side. I don't know if there's a video showing that Lark's Head join from the back side, but I figured out it's just the opposite of the front side directions: down through the picot instead of up, twist the opposite way each time. I decided to simply count the join as an extra double stitch. It changes the appearance of the earrings just slightly, but I think it's an improvement! Of course, they still work with the normal join, too!

In this earring, I used the normal join on the rings to the long beaded picots.

More "Beach Cafe" hand dyed thread

Another batch of "Beach Cafe" is now listed in my Etsy shop.




By the way, my self published printed books are still listed at a sale price on Etsy for a while. To be honest, I'm just tired of boxes of books lining my hallway! I'll still print books when requested by the wholesale buyer "Handy Hands Tatting" but I don't want to store the books in my house anymore. I will continue to offer the digital PDF files for sale as usual.


I took one of my finished "pods" from my Milkweed Pod tatting pattern and finished it up as a necklace. I strung it onto a beading wire with some leaf beads and seed beads, putting a crimp bead on each end to hold the arrangement in place. I'm keeping this necklace for myself! ☺

Milkweed Pod tatting pattern

 My original design, inspired by nature: Milkweed Pod in tatting. 

This 3 dimensional pattern is a good challenge for experienced tatters who are not afraid of split rings! ☺

Of course I used artistic license and made my pods very colorful! I used a different color for each step in the pattern to make it easier to follow, but naturally the pod will be lovely in a single color as well.

The tatted "seeds with fluff" are at the stage where they are just beginning to emerge from the pod. Do feel free to use your imagination and use other items inside the pod!

I've been told that at an earlier stage in the pattern, the unfinished pod resembles a leaf.

The PDF pattern is listed for sale in my Etsy shop and also my Craftsy pattern store.