Sunday, November 26, 2023

Lilac Sea and Sea Green plus lace jewelry

 


Hand dyed "Lilac Sea" is a pretty sea green with purple. I took the dye for sea green, added a little bit more dye to make the color slightly richer, and did a few solid color skeins in size 20. Actually, I was trying to match a batch from years ago that I'm using in a current project, but the thread in my project is a little darker. So, next time I'll add a dash of black dye powder to darken it, hoping to not add too much! But the current skeins go very nicely with the "Lilac Sea".


A couple of pendants currently listed in my Etsy shop: the blue and white is from my free pattern "Star Capella" and the red is from a pattern in my book "Up and Tat 'Em". I added beads to the outer picots and a curled ring bail at the top, but otherwise it is the same as the "Five Petal Pendant" pattern.
Mélange earrings in Liz Metallic bright gold with red beads


"Loopy" earrings with Liz Metallic Iridescent and Lizbeth Christmas Delight size 20.


That's me wearing a bobbin lace collar made from Liz Metallic, with the sweater I knitted last year. ☺
Currently no eyeglasses since I recently had cataract surgery. I've been using reading glasses to see close work. Prescription bifocals will be next. I do notice that colors are a lot brighter now! ♥

Friday, November 10, 2023

Pattern for Victory necklace and more Snowflake

 




The story behind this necklace is that I saw a picture of a vintage tatted collar (I think it was from the 1940s) and decided to embellish it. I'm sure that I've seen other variations online based on the same collar pattern, but I think mine is different enough to call my own. Someone actually asked me to write up my version of the "Victory" pattern some time ago and I'm sure the message is somewhere in the vast array of messaging services we have these days but I couldn't find it. Anyway, the pattern is done!

The pattern is listed in my Etsy shop so you can read all the specifics there. Although I use size 20 thread to fit with the beads chosen, of course any size of thread can be used without any beads, the tatting will just turn out larger or smaller. 

In addition, I posted a video on YouTube demonstrating putting a bead in the center of a ring, showing how it's done in the pattern.
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New batch of  "Snowflake" hand dye thread just listed in my Etsy shop also.


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In bobbin lace, I finished my first try at a pattern I'd been wanting to figure out for years! It's from a French book Bijoux En Dentelle by Colette Varet and the pattern is called "Pareis". 
The original in the book was made from wire. I made mine using Liz Metallic size 20 and some Lizbeth size 20 thread. My collar has flaws but it's wearable! I learned a lot from working the pattern. 
I used Google translate to understand the little bit of written instructions that were in the book. The diagrammed pattern is excellent, but since it showed just half of the collar it needed to be photocopied from the book with the 2nd half reversed and put together to prepare a printed pattern. I think I enlarged my copy 104%. I'm pleased with the results and the Liz metallic is nice and stiff so it seems almost like wire. Now I have the pattern so I want to make another!