Dark Hydrangea

 

Hand dyed, purple-blue, intended as a solid color but is streaky - usually a desirable effect if you enjoy hand dyed thread. The color is really hard to capture, but the orange handled scissors and blue capped pen in the photo help to give a reference. My first attempt to capture the iridescent colors of blue Hydrangea flowers, and this batch turned out dark. I hope to try for a lighter version later.

Download issue fixed!

My apologies to all the folks who were disappointed when my free patterns and tutorials refused to download. The bandwidth problem has now been fixed - permanently! Hey, if the people who said tatting was a lost art could see how much demand there is for tatting patterns, they'd have to eat their words!

"Wondrous Window" pendant and another work in progress

The Catherine Wheel Join, in a still photo document

In response to requests for still photos from my video demo of the Catherine Wheel join, I grabbed some frames from the video and put them onto a 2 page PDF file.
To download the PDF,
click here.

"Corsage" hand dyed thread

Inspired by the colors of an orchid, that I thought would make a really very special occasion corsage, hence the name, "Corsage".

Might be nice colors for Easter eggs too.

Pattern finished for "Trendy Teardrop"

It's done! Already listed on my Etsy site, this pattern was tricky to write up because I kept wondering if I was explaining the different techniques clearly enough. The set in the photo above was tatted in Lizbeth thread, color #682, Country Grape Dark. I used size 10 for the pendant, and size 20 for the earrings.

Life has been very busy lately, so I'm way behind on dyeing more thread. But, I should be able to get some done soon. Temperature outside today was a glorious 65 degrees Fahrenheit, the sun was shining, the birds singing, and crocuses and early daffodils blooming! Lovely spring days this week have definitely lifted my spirits - I wish good cheer and good times to all!

Finishing up

What I'm showing in the photo above is a finishing extra that I usually add when doing the Magic Thread Trick. (By the way, Sharon has a good video demo for the magic thread trick on her website.)

The magic thread (fine white thread in the photo) has been tatted into the final ring. Then, I put the end to be pulled into the work into an embroidery needle. The thread end needs to be frayed out in order to get it to fit into the needle. (I'm using size 10 Lizbeth thread in the photo). Oh, and there are extra ends sticking out in another ring too, from where I ran out of thread...but that's another story :-)

So anyway, I sew the end into the work below the final ring, before putting the end into the Magic Thread.

 The end will pull in easier if the frayed end is cut off first.

 After pulling the end in, before pulling it through all the way, I stop to tug on the side that closes the ring up tightly first. I also tug on the the other end that I tatted over in the first part of the ring.

Then, I finish pulling the end in all the way, tightly. I wait to cut off the thread ends sticking out until the project is finished (which is why I have more thread ends sticking out from where I ran out of thread earlier).

These are just some things I normally do, that might be new and possibly useful ideas for some folks. So, I decided to take photos while I was doing this part on my necklace (Duchess from Boutique Tatting).

But, I won't have the necklace done in time to wear to the Lighthouse Lacers guild meeting :(
Also, I don't have the Trendy Teardrop pattern finished yet :(

But, it will all get done eventually, one step at a time...it isn't a race :-)

Trendy Teardrop in green

 

Here's how the Trendy Teardrop set looks in a pastel shaded green. I used my own hand dyed thread in Celery. I'm still working on the pattern, but hopefully that should be finished this week, and then I'll make it available in my Etsy shop.

Last week was very busy with family activity, so not a lot of time to work on either tatting or dyeing. I did take time to "remodel" my blog, as you may notice. I did some experimenting with it this past weekend, so if you popped in during that time you may have caught me while I was in the process of rearranging. My free pattern links are now on their own page, which you can access by clicking on the tab at the top that says "My Free Patterns". I'm aware that I don't have all the links there yet, but will add them as time allows. Comments on what you think of the new look are welcome!