Truckload Giveaway

 

   
This giveaway package includes a 10 skein assortment of my hand dyed thread, a copy of my latest book Up and Tat 'Em, a new 2-pack of Clover plastic tatting shuttles, a new size 12 steel crochet hook, a new size 16 (0.4mm) steel crochet hook, and a brand new toy dump truck (in its box) suitable for ages 18 months and up.

Now what you have to do to have a chance to win this fantastic prize package, is to leave one comment on this post. You don't need to put your contact info if you are going to check back here on Friday, December 3rd to see if you've won. I'll choose a winner using a random number generator on Friday, December 3rd between 12 noon and 1 pm central standard time.

Hey now, if you already have a toy dump truck (or any of the other items in this giveaway), I betcha there is somebody near you who would love to have it (nice gift!)

International readers are welcome to enter this giveaway. If you win, the package will have a customs form marked "gift" and the contents as plastic toy, cotton thread, needlework tools, book.

Parchment

 Very subtle shades of beige to white, which I hand dyed with Pro MX Reactive Dye.

 Actually, to some folks it may just look like "dirty thread", which to be perfectly honest was my own personal reaction to it as I watched it dry. Anyway, I started an earring with it (Grand Aura from my Up and Tat 'Em book) and I think it will work nicely for the antiqued look.

I will be tatting earrings this week, since my earring display rack has room for 40 pairs, and so far I only have 28 finished. I want a full display for my booth at the Holiday Artisan Market at Discovery World, which is coming up December 4 and 5. So, I will be busy getting ready for that this week.
BTW, the organizer specifically asked if I would be demonstrating tatting. She said, (and I quote) 

"It’s always so much fun to watch you do your thing, so that would be great if you can."

"Evergreen" tatted necklace in hand dyed thread

 

"Evergreen" seemed like a suitable title for this necklace. The hand dyed thread it is tatted from will indeed stay these greens and not fade.



Something I noticed is that the Lizbeth thread  size 10 is thicker than the Anchor Artiste size 10 that I used to make the Newcastle necklace (the one with the bottle cap). So, this necklace is slightly larger.


 This past week I also dyed some Pizazz thread in bright orange to red to burgundy. The color is so bright that the camera could barely capture it.

The green necklace in progress

Using ideas from the previous necklace, but this one will be one-of-a-kind as well. I'm happiest when I'm just making it up as I go! The thread is size 10 from my hand dyed "Forest" batch. I'm thinking I may surround it with a lighter solid green, with maybe some silvery-color glass beads. (I've learned to avoid both silver plated and sterling silver metal beads - they tarnish, and I don't see any practical way of polishing them when they are all worked into cotton lace.)

Later, I'll get to dyeing a batch of "Pizazz" which is reds and oranges. The white thread is prepared and waiting!

It grew around a bottle cap

Nearly a year ago, I bought a bottle cap pendant from the seller in the booth next to mine at the Discovery World Holiday Artisan Market. I told her at the time that I'd tat it into something.  
Well, now I have!

I added some gears into the necklace by joining into them with normal joins while tatting.

By fiddling around with the ring, I discovered that the tatted ring could be easily maneuvered to lie under the gear, so the gear would be prominent on top of the tatting.

I decided to call this design Newcastle because that was written on the other side of the bottle cap.

Into the dark, mysterious "Forest"

Apparently I haven't made this batch for a very long time, because when I looked it up in my dye "recipe" book, the amounts I had scribbled down for how much dye, water, etc. were very small. That was back in the day (2007) when a batch for me was maybe a dozen skeins total. In this batch I dyed a total of 58 skeins. That's pretty much the maximum amount I can work with at one time.

By the way, there is still some Snowflake left, too. At some point in the future I plan on dyeing a batch of Pizazz, which is sort of a bright red and orange. And, then more Sue's Blues! And, I have an idea for some neutrals, too.

So many colors, so little time!

Split ring jewelry finding

The thread goes through the metal ring twice

 For security, I like to attach a split ring finding instead of a standard jump ring to my tatted jewelry. The "split ring" I'm referring to here is the coiled jewelry finding (not a tatted split ring).


I recently acquired some black split rings that I really like, but I discovered that I can't use my special split ring pliers to open them because the force of using the tool scratches the black coating on this particular finding. So, I unwound my shuttle to string them onto the thread. Not a big deal, since at that point the tatting is nearly done, anyway.

So, before starting to tat the ring that I want the finding on, I unwound the shuttle, and strung the metal split ring onto that thread. Then, wrapped the thread around my left hand, and put the end of the thread through the metal split ring again. After doing that, the thread was wound back onto the shuttle. When tatting resumed, the metal ring dangled from the tatted ring.

A previous post about this subject is found at: http://yarnplayertats.blogspot.com/2008/04/adding-jump-ring.html

"Wondrous Window" pendant from "Up and Tat 'Em" book