Tatted necklace with polymer clay heart finished

It's done! The polymer clay heart measures about 2 and 1/4 inches wide (5.7 cm) by 2 inches high (5 cm). The thread used was Flora size 10.

Detail of note: the ring just before the large round bead is where I began tatting the neck cord, using a Loop Tatted Ring (LTR) to get both threads through the bead without having to unwind any shuttles. This is the technique used by Bina in her Candlelight Snowflake. The LTR is a new trick for me - I don't quite have it mastered yet, but it came in handy for this project!

The closure is a toggle that I made of polymer clay, and can be inserted into any of the tatted openings for an adjustable necklace. I'm very happy with how the necklace turned out.

Funky polymer clay heart with tatting in progress

I made this funky, colorful heart in polymer clay, with holes around the edge for joining a lacy edging. So far I've tatted all the way around the heart, using rings and chains in size 10. Now, to decide what to do next. I want to finish this as a necklace.

"Celery"

In this photo you see size 20 HDT, some tatting done with it, some actual celery (the vegetable itself), and one of LadyShuttleMaker's handmade ceramic shuttles. To quote my teenage son, "The thread looks more like celery than the celery does" - LOL! I had to agree, because the veggie did seem awfully dull compared to the brightly colored thread. Still, I couldn't think of another name to call it. Incidentally, I did dye a batch with the same name quite some time ago, and this is similar, but "tweaked" (to try and spice it up) so it probably won't match exactly, in case you still have some of the old stuff lying in a drawer (what are you saving it for?!!)

Size 20 used the base thread of Lizbeth this time. Just so you know, my 2010 plan is: to eventually use all the sizes that Lizbeth comes in as the base for my hand dyed thread in the 6 cord type. I'm gradually replacing as I run out of the stock I have on hand. I am very picky about thread, and I wouldn't be doing this if Lizbeth wasn't a high quality, lustrous, strong, beautiful thread, which it has shown itself to be. The tatting in the photo is the hand dyed Lizbeth.

"Night Wind"

The "Night Wind" blows where it will - some of the skeins turned out with a lighter shade of purple than others, even though they were all painted at the same time with the same dye. The blues are the same, just the purple is paler on some. So, I separated them out in my Etsy shop listings. The size 40, 50, and 80 all have the paler purple. I did my best to photograph the colors as they appear.

What came in the mail

It's the flier of class listings offered at the spring retreat for the Loose Bead Society...and that's my tatting on the cover! Such an honor :-)

Guest teaching Online Tatting Class

My first time as a guest instructor at Georgia's Online Tatting Class on Monday, December 14. I'll be talking about making the "Ruffled Orbit" earrings.