"Purple Punch" dye batch has a mind of its own

Well, some skeins have a light lavender section, and some don't. And the skeins in the mini sets that were supposed to be dark purple turned out blue, instead. Sigh...well I think they are pretty, anyway. These are hand dyed, after all.

I started some tatting with the "Purple Punch" in size 40, combined with white, to give you an idea of how it works up. Some people who already have my "Lola" batch may see a similarity, but "Lola" purposely had a lighter blue in it. BTW, the beautiful tatting shuttle in the photo is a handmade ceramic shuttle by LadyShuttleMaker.

Linen threads in 3 sizes were included in this batch, for the bobbin lacers, etc.

Purple Punch

This is a small, experimental batch of my HDT. I plan on doing a bit of tweaking to the "recipe", and then doing a larger batch.

Demonstrating tatting at Kenosha's Civil War Museum Grand Opening

That's me in the green outfit, wearing my "Enclosed Rock" tatted necklace and green "Polyclay Teardrops" tatted earrings. The photo shows me with two of the interested folks of all ages who stopped by the table to see what I was doing. A few even took the time to sit down in a chair next to me for a tatting lesson! This sure was fun - as you can see, we look happy!

I was able to take part in this event as a member of the "Lighthouse Lacers" lacemaking guild. Several of the other members demonstrated bobbin lace. We also had someone crocheting. So people got educated on how several different types of lace were made.

"Summer Trail" dye batch

Pastels in the dull purple, dull green, yellow-gold ranges. The wool/silk yarn took the dye darker than the cottons and linens.

String of beaded mock rings, part 2

Tatting the chain around the other side of the bead, we come to the join. I opted to use the "Alligator Join". The core thread goes under the work, the auxiliary thread goes on top, (or reverse order if it looks better to you) and the tatting continues.
This photo shows the first half of of a double stitch just after the join. It is still loose in the photo to help you see it, but it needs to be pulled up tight.
Tatting continues around the beads.

This concludes my tutorial on a string of beaded mock rings. Have fun!

String of beaded mock rings, part 1

I'm working on a necklace with glass pearls within the center of mock rings. I think it will work - hope so, anyway! This is the first time I have tried doing a beaded string of rings this way, and I'm just experimenting.


What I'm doing in the photo above is tatting a mock ring, leaving a large loop at the beginning. The shuttle is put through the loop...
...then the loop is closed, and the tatting goes halfway around the bead at this point. Then the next mock ring is started, leaving a large loop at the beginning just like before. In the next post I plan to show how I get around the other side of all those beads.

Goodies

Yes, I did manage to find the beads I needed at the annual Bead Show in Milwaukee, along with some I probably don't need - you know how it is.

The tatted jewelry that I was wearing did receive some admiring looks, compliments, and questions! "Is that micro-macrame?" "Tatting? What is that?" "Oh, a knotted lace form - very cool!"

Anyway, now I will be able to finish the red tatted necklace that I am working on with the white beads. I'll post photos soon of this experiment with a string of beaded mock rings.

This tatted motif (in my HDT "Fern") is one of the smallest snowflakes from Jon's new book. She has very innovative designs, beautifully explained and diagrammed. Highly recommended!

My last bead broke!

Right after I took the photo to the left, when I was all set to share with you some more stuff about adding beads -

Well, um, yes, sometimes the beads have a smaller hole than usual and they won't go on the thread.

You guessed it - the teardrop shaped bead broke when I tried to force it, and it was my last one in that color - panic! I need it to finish my necklace which is 2/3 done!

I can't go down to the local bead store because they are at the big bead show so - there's my excuse to go to the bead show...yeah, I know, as if I needed an excuse. (grin)

Sending more tatting to Belle Armoire

After seeing these photos. the Editor of Belle Armoire said "Fabulous!" Then she requested that I mail the actual items in, saying they would make a "terrific article" for either Belle Armoire or Belle Armoire Jewelry. Ok, I'm getting them ready to mail!

The March/April issue had a photo of my "Vision" tatted necklace included. Now that one, I had submitted 3 years earlier! So, better to not hold your breath to see this future article.