Celtic earrings

 

In an Italian tatting magazine IL Mio Chiacchierino October/November 2014 the pattern for these large elegant Celtic design earrings caught my eye, so I wanted to make a pair! 

I needed to learn how to cover a plastic ring with tatting, so searched on YouTube for a tutorial and found this good demo by BridalDYI. 

The earring being worn by me, showing the size. Although large, it is lightweight.

The magazine issue where the pattern appeared.

Google Translate came in handy for translating the Italian pattern. There is a diagram (but I think the 7 ds indicated between picots of the outer row is a mistake). I counted 5 ds on the photograph of the earrings on the model so I used 5 ds on mine and I'm pleased with the result. The thread I used is Liz Metallic size 20 in the color "Sand Dollar".

Still in a Celtic mood, I made 2 pairs of shamrock earrings and listed them in my Etsy shop. One pair in Kelly green, and one in my own hand dyed "Bright Greens". The pattern for these earrings is found on the "My Free Patterns" page of this blog (with a nod to Rozella Linden for the Celtic knot).

A fresh batch of "Brilliant Sunset" hand dyed thread is still waiting in a bin to be rinsed out, so I'm off to attend to that next. 

I hope all goes well for you today!

My current method for the Vision earrings

 Since my tatting has "evolved" the reverse work directions in the original "Vision Earrings" pattern found in my book Boutique Tatting do not match what I do now. I hope these step by step pictures help.

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(Instead of joining the top ring to a jump ring while in progress I just tat the ring and add the jump ring later. I've also added one more double stitch to the top ring.)

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(I've tied the threads before tatting the final ring, and tatted over one tail in part of that ring. The tail that remains I sew under some stitches in the previous chain.)

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Vision pattern necklace and earrings sets

 

The necklaces are from my "Vision" necklace pattern which is found on the Free Patterns page of this blog. It's one of my very early patterns and recommended for experienced tatters. I recently updated it with some in-progress photos but the pattern is still difficult. What can I say? I love the design! 

The earrings pattern is also called "Vision" and is found in the "Boutique Tatting" book. 

But I have a confession to make :-O

Back in the day (early 2000s) my tatting technique was different (less sophisticated) in that I always started a split ring with shuttle 1. That resulted in the split ring "turning itself over" after it was made. I haven't done it that way for years, but back when I wrote that book I still did. 

Even worse, many of the "reverse work" instructions in the written directions for that earring pattern don't make sense to my current method of tatting. The numbers and where to join are all correct, though. The photo diagram is correct. It's a cute design, just tricky!

Oddities of the Cocoon pattern

 

The "Cocoon" pattern is found in the book "Marilee's Beaded Tatting Finery". 

Some odd techniques used in it:

It begins with a chain on a paper clip. 

Most of the chains are in "node stitch", as 2 first halves, 2 second halves (of a double stitch). This forms a little ruffle, which allows for the seed beads to face down, below the chain.

It has a large bead held temporarily in place with a paper clip. Normal chains (not node stitch) are used to curve around the bead, and the rings thrown off the chains (also known as "floating rings") need larger picots to fit around the curve. A picot gauge is helpful here (size is given in the pattern).

There is one split ring before the top ring. 

After the split ring, the top ring can be worked as a single shuttle split ring, although the pattern doesn't say this. Also, something else I did this time (not mentioned in the pattern) is to tie a square knot before the top ring, to secure the threads better.

My opinion on finishing: 

This earring benefits from painting some fabric stiffener on the back side (which is actually the side facing you when tatting this pattern). I like the side better that has the smooth lines showing along the seed beads in the middle.

A tatted earring with fabric stiffener being applied to the back side with a brush. Sometimes I just dab the stiffener on using a pin. Although the stiffener dries clear, it does dull the sheen of the thread, so that's why I prefer to put it on the back side only.

Just popping by

Knitting in progress, and Marilee modeling the finished hat.

I knit a hat! The pattern is from the book "Knitting from the Center Out" by Daniel Yuhas. I borrowed the book from the local public library. 

Beaded center and tatted earrings are something I'm currently having fun with. They remind me of mint candies! 

This simple square pattern was inspired by a vintage pattern, I think the same one I used for my "Victory" necklace pattern. I have not written up the pattern for the earrings, though.

The latest new hand dyed thread colorway I call "Angelonia", after the flower. 

By the way, I'm on Bluesky now too, at @yarnplayer.bsky.social 

The tatted leaf project in progress

 

What I've got so far. I'm not sure about adding that stone. Actually, looking at it today I'm thinking it doesn't work with the leaves at all. Apparently this project is becoming an artsy necklace. So, I'll tat more leaves! I do like the colors.

I did finish the "grape" "raspberry" "coral" earring projects that I had mentioned in a previous post, so here's some pictures of that:

Like the Grape Earrings except Raspberry?

 

Earrings like the "Grape" ones are quite a bit of extra work, but the results really "pop"! This is not my design. It's found in the Italian magazine IL MIO Chiacchierino October/November 2014. I bought my copy from Handy Hands Tatting. 

I do the base rings a little differently than described in the magazine. I use a self-closing mock ring with "floating" rings thrown off from it, so there are only 2 sets of tails to sew in.

For the coils I like Liz Metallic thread. Each coil is a long chain. What I do is start the chain on a paper clip, tat the long chain and leave tails long enough to tie. Remove the paper clip, sew 1 tail through the space left by the paper clip, then tie the 2 ends together with a double knot. I prefer to cut the tails leaving a little bit sticking out, apply some glue, and then let it dry. After that cut the tails very short and then use a crochet hook or small latch hook to pull the knot inside the coil to hide it.

This project is still in progress. The "leaf" at the top is added last. My notes on the first pair of "grape" earrings are in this post from 2019.

Sea green Victory and beginning a peace symbol

 

Done! This "Victory" necklace in my own hand dyed sea green (the darker color) and Lizbeth number 686 Seagreen Lt. My finished necklace is listed in my Etsy shop here and the pattern is there.

Something I learned is to measure the round beads! Just because it says "6mm" on the package doesn't mean that the beads actually measure 6mm! The quartzite stone beads were a little larger, which explains why the tatted ring around the focal bead at lower center didn't quite fit, and it took less beads to make the neck cord the correct length.

So then, I came up with earrings to match, sort of. The last join on these is a rather tricky folded join, but otherwise they're fairly simple. I might write this up as a free pattern someday.

The earrings in progress

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New experiment combining tatting and wire-wrapping is in progress! 

I'm trying to make a peace symbol, the iconic 1960s peace symbol, out of wire and adding tatted "flowers" on it in a way similar to my other wire with tatting pendants. We will soon see if this works! 

To form the wire shape I followed the DIY Peace Sign Earrings video demonstration by Heather Boyd Wire on YouTube. Changes I made include continuing the wire up over the top (to form a bail later) and I added a 2nd circle of wire around the outside to make a doubled edge, which makes a wider border and will keep the tatting facing front.

My concern is to keep the peace symbol recognizable while being covered with the tatted "flowers". A work in progress....

Tatting with gears and bobbin lace progress

 

From my "High Gear" pattern

This pair of earrings was tatted from Liz Metallic thread size 20, color number 311. I made several short videos while tatting this pair. Three of them are on my TikTok profile, and I just added a one minute video demonstrating a self-closing mock ring around a bead to YouTube as a short. The earrings have been listed in my Etsy Shop, and the pattern "High Gear" has been there awhile.

There has been some progress in my new hobby of bobbin lace. The pattern that I'm working on now is by Jenny Brandis. She has many instructional videos on YouTube and a lovely Etsy shop as well.

My first attempt at a Jenny Brandis bobbin lace pattern

I've removed some of the pins in the lace already completed to better see how the colors are interacting with the pattern. Mind you, I was really clueless about what would happen with the colors when I started. They didn't stay neatly in place like the simpler pattern that I tried in my previous post. But, now that I can see the color mixing it's like a painting! I love it! 

I'm using mainly size 40 Lizbeth and some of my hand dyed thread. This is thicker than the recommended thread for the pattern, so I enlarged the pattern to 115% and it seems that's about right. Jenny Brandis includes a lot of helpful information with her patterns, so that's how I learned about resizing the pattern to fit the thread.

Tatted Link Earrings

 

I've made a video demo and posted it on YouTube.

Short clips from the video are also on Instagram and TikTok. It's a very simple pattern, and here's the diagram:

The following photos list the supplies that I used:

An example of the 20mm links used:  https://www.firemountaingems.com/itemdetails/H205131FY

Short story: I happened to be wearing a pair of these earrings while hiking on the Hank Aaron Nature Trail in Milwaukee. I passed a group of teenage students on a field trip there, and one of them said, "I like your earrings!"

That made my day and inspired me to put the tutorial online. I hope you'll enjoy!