Black Bedazzled Butterfly tatted necklace

The necklace that I've been working on is done! The pattern is from my Boutique Tatting book. I did some extra embellishing on this one, adding tatted connectors to the neck chain and making the antennae a bit more fancy, but otherwise it is just as written in the book. The thread in this model is Lizbeth size 20, the beads are Swarovski pearls sizes 4mm and 6mm, and the seed beads around the outer edge are size 11/0.

Here's a short video showing the outer chain tatting in progress, with lock joins and bead picots.



Note to experienced tatters: after trying the lock joins both ways (pulling UP through the picot, or DOWN through the picot) I decided that the up join worked best for this design element. The reason: the up join tends to make the edging turn slightly upwards, which is what I want for the front of the necklace. A detail that most people won't notice, but that is just how it is with details, we do them to please ourselves, don't we :-)

Other news: someone asked if I had thread dyed in grey to crimson like my I.D. photo. Well, at the time I didn't (the photo effect was created digitally) but, I do now! At least until it gets scooped up by Etsy shoppers!

So much guild activity!

On Monday, I not only attended the guild meeting of the Loose Bead Society, I managed to coax Sue Anna into making over an hour's drive to come too! During open beading time - well, throughout the whole meeting, actually - Sue Anna and I were both tatting, which caused quite a stir among many of the guild members, who came over to see what we were doing! I think they were surprised to see that Marilee is not the only person who tats ☺The top photo shows the black butterfly (pattern is in Boutique Tatting) that I started on Monday at the meeting, and that's how far I'd gotten by early Wednesday morning.

Then, later Wednesday morning I headed over to the mall food court where I'd heard the Embroidery Guild was gathering for Stitch in Public Day. Another super-nice group! They greeted me warmly, and let me tat with them while they worked on projects ranging from counted cross stitch to needlepoint. They seemed quite eager to have me come "stitch" with them again!

Then, I found out that there is a Crochet Guild in town, too! Still more creative people!

Anyway, this 2nd photo shows how much more I got done on the butterfly during my visit with the Embroidery Guild - while chit-chatting away!

The gloves are off...

...the rubber gloves, that is! (grin)
I had just finished a grand slam of a hand dyed thread batch, when I received notice from Annie's Attic that my new book was as far as the 2nd draft stage, and would I please look it over for corrections and suggestions. So, I am still busy doing that. But, just so you know, there is more hand dyed thread and some of it...hmm..well..I sold to a fellow Wisconsin girl, and she knew exactly what the colors meant! And, of course, lots of pretty fall leaf colors, so something for everyone.

Ginko leaf

My best attempt to approximate a gingko leaf shape in tatting. If there is interest, I may get around to writing up the pattern, but be aware it's a bit tricky.

I used folded rings in the center ( there's a great tutorial on folded rings at Martha Ess' Tatting Page) and Catherine Wheel Joins on the outer edge. I really find Catherine Wheel Joins useful for keeping a smooth curve, and I'm glad Bina of Paradise Treasures introduced me to that technique.

Anyway, in size 20 the Ginko leaf measures about 1 and 1/2 inches across (3.8 cm). I think for earrings I would like it a tad daintier, so I'll try size 30 or 40. In those sizes, wouldn't you know, I don't have any appropriate colors - so off to do more dyeing!

In other news, I enjoyed having a sneak peak at how the nice folks at Annie's Attic are arranging my new book, Tatted Jewelry. It looks like the book will be around 40 pages, and will include many in-progress photos (taken by me) and beautiful professionally taken photos, too. Oh, I'm so excited - just wait'll you see!

Ripple necklace

 Here's a new finished necklace, which I've decided to call "Ripple" since it reminds me of undulating waves or vibrations. I used my own hand dyed size 10 from the "Stardate" batch, combined with Lizbeth thread size 10 in black. I designed the pattern myself, and it's just one shuttle with ball of thread. Really not hard - except for those loop tatted rings below the beads in the center (well, you know I would have to challenge myself, lol!) For more info on the loop tatted ring, Tatting Fool has prepared an excellent tutorial on her blog.

Getting the curve just right was my other main challenge with designing this piece. It follows the neckline curve pretty well, in fact it is about the same width as a t-shirt crew neck.

Other exciting news: I just received a phone call this morning from an editor at Annie's Attic, and my "Tatted Jewelry" book is as far as the rough draft stage! I've been asked to look it over to make sure the photos and patterns are matching up, etc. So, that is what I need to do next. Relaxing outside will have to wait for a little bit.

Purple and silver necklace and earring set - to go with the purple blouse that my sweet husband bought for me. I decided to keep the necklace simple with mostly chain. The threads are Flora, size 20 purple and size 10 silver. I used the different sizes because I didn't have the 2 colors I wanted in the same size. Actually, I like the effect.