Believe it or not, I finished the pattern! But I had to finish tatting the mat before I published it.
Jubilee mat tatting the edging
This is in Lizbeth thread HH20-601 white in size 20 and measures 5 1/2 inches across. I must have measured it wrong when I did it in 2018 because I got the same dimensions this time!
Jubilee mat 2018Jubilee mat 2024 with clover
The square mat that I did in 2018 measured 5 1/2 inches across (with the edging). The 2024 mat measures just over 5 1/2 inches. They are made with different thread brands, the 2018 in DMC size 30. You can see there is a bit of a size difference.
I’ve had fun working on this, in between doing a few other patterns. Two patterns are for Tatting Corner’s Tat Days this summer. You’ll have to come to see them – or wait until Tat Days are over. The pattern for Jubilee Square and Mat is up on My Patterns page. Thank you, Kristina Fry, for test-tatting it for me!
Enjoy the pattern!
“Procrastination gives you time to consider divergent ideas, to think in nonlinear ways, to make unexpected leaps.” Adam Grant
Did you all have a merry Christmas? We have had a wonderful Christmas season. We’ve seen a lot of family and friends and created wonderful memories. We even had a bit of snow!
I was able to make as many of my Christmas ornaments for this year as I needed and in plenty of time. Amazing! I didn’t even feel rushed this year. In fact, I got through most of December without feeling pressured, which is pretty amazing. I almost always leave things to the last minute and then feel stressed and anxious. This year I got the gifts purchased early and had the house in good shape for company before the day of the get-togethers. What a wonderful feeling!
My Christmas ornament for 2023 involved beads again. Some were even the same ones! I am very happy with these.
Christmas ornament 2023 with Snowman
These snowman beads were used in the original attempt for ornaments this year. This time the tatting was a bit quicker and the ornaments did not use the bangle bracelets or anything else under the tatting. This made them easier to tat on the go, which I did quite a bit.
I have a variety of beads that I used for these. I made ornaments specific to several family member’s likes. Cats, dogs, penguins, and owls.
Christmas ornament 2023 with penguin
I went through several versions before I settled on my final ornament style. They all were given away – the people receiving them didn’t know I changed my mind! I even did a few that weren’t white.
Christmas ornament 2023 with owls
I made all of the ornaments in size 10 thread so they were big enough and sturdy enough for the beads. I also used Balanced Double Stitches (BDS) for the chains. I had learned this stitch a long time ago but never incorporated it in my tatting before. Then I did a few patterns from Mike Lyon, the Shuttle Commander, and now I seem to use them a lot! Thanks, Mike, for showing me how well they can work in a pattern.
Speaking of patterns, I have finished the pattern for this year’s ornament. For any of you who are interested in trying it, I have added it to My Patterns page (Christmas Ornament 2023).
In a few more days we will say goodbye to the year 2023 and hello to 2024. Are you ready?
I can’t believe it’s almost December! Or that my last post was in August!! What could have kept me away that long?!
Many things have been going on that have kept me busy. It started while I was still at Tatting Corner’s Tat Days in July, where I spoke to Lisa Adams about teaching a class on the tatting cruise, Knotical Adventures. I had already submitted one pattern and she told me I could submit another. On our way home from Tat Days, my husband and I brainstormed ideas about what I could try. By the time we got home, I had a good idea of another pattern.
Having an idea and making it real are two very different things! For the next several months I made and remade the same thing, changing a bit here, tweaking a bit there. After I thought I had it the way I wanted, I had to write out the pattern. This pattern wasn’t easy to translate to paper. After I wrote it down, I submitted it to a couple of wonderful test tatters, who pointed out all the places that didn’t work. Then I went back to writing out the corrections. I didn’t think I’d have it ready for the cruise, but I did! Thank you to Lora McClintock for testing it with a needle, and to Stephanie Wilson for testing it with a shuttle. Your suggestions and input were put to use and have been greatly appreciated! The result of all this hard work will be shared in another post.
What I will share today is the first item I submitted to teach on the cruise.
Compass Rose
The patterns for the cruise were to be of a nautical theme. I thought of this Compass Rose soon after Lisa started asking for teachers. It came together quickly. The hardest part was finding beads with the correct letters for the four directions. I finally decided that it would be best to just write them on. This came out just as I envisioned it.
My sister and I on the Knotical Adventures cruise 2023
Then there was the cruise! My sister went with me on Tatting Corner’s Knotical Adventure. We both had a blast! We didn’t tat ALL the time, we enjoyed a few shore excursions as well. Thanks, Lisa, for putting this cruise together! Can’t wait for the next one!
I have a lot of things to share, but now it’s the Christmas season. I have so many things to do, including tat, in the next few weeks. But I plan to post a few more times before the end of the year. Let’s see how well I do!
A few days ago I received an email asking if I had written out the pattern for an edging I made years ago. I hadn’t yet, but it seemed totally doable. It is a simple edging so it wouldn’t take long to write it out.
Kamryn Edging
This edging is Kamryn, which I designed and made in 2015. When I made it back then, I had material picked out to go with it for a table runner. That changed by the time it was finished and ready to be sewn on, which you can read about in the blog post of December 4, 2015. This time I didn’t have colors picked out to make it in so I used thread I had conveniently close by. This was Lizbeth #671 Christmas Red and #650 Denim Blue Lt, both are size 20.
Thank you to Dana Morse for liking it and asking about the pattern. She also test-tatted it for me when I finished it, which was a great help. Thanks, Dana! For those that are interested in the pattern, the link is on the My Patterns page.
In the middle of May, Muskaan of T.I.P.S. Around the Home started a Design Along (DAL) for a Celtic snowflake. She made the first two rounds and furnished the pattern for them. The idea is to design rounds three, and four if you want, to finish it. I decided to join her challenge.
DAL Celtic Snowflake
You can find the pattern for the first two rounds on Muskaan’s blog and her Facebook page. My pattern is jotted down on the pictures I put on Facebook. I’ll be writing my two rounds out better – eventually. She shared the snowflakes of everyone that joined the DAL on her blog. It’s amazing a different all the snowflakes came out when they all started with the same two first rounds.
This was a lot of fun to do. My rounds were not exactly Celtic, but round four did overlap with round three. This is going to make writing out the pattern a bit challenging. As Muskaan started this with just a shuttle and ball I kept to that, even though I usually tat with two shuttles so I can go in any direction the pattern takes me. In this snowflake, I utilized SCMRs (self-closing mock rings) to make the pattern do what I wanted. I used two colors so the different elements of the pattern can be seen. I used Lizbeth #650 Denim Blue Lt and #628 Salmon Med, both are size 20.
Now that I have a simple pattern done, I’m hoping to get back to writing out more of my patterns. Looking back at my blog I see that I am way behind on getting them written out. It’s amazing how time flies when you’re having fun.
Something new I’m trying is a YouTube channel. I’ve been thinking about it for a while but have been hesitant to start. Where to start? What do you talk about? Then I saw The ShuttleSmith, Karen Bovard-Sayer, introducing her channel on YouTube, and the idea of TattingTube. I think the idea of an easy way to keep tatting channels together is a good one. So I’ve started my channel, Wanda’s Knotty Thoughts, and joined her idea of TattingTube. I invite you to check it out.
The pattern for the September Angel is finished! Thank you to my test tatters, Wally and Ada for checking the pattern out for oopsies. And thank you to all those who volunteered to test tat. I appreciate the offer.
September Angel
This angel was done in size 20 Lizbeth thread, making it not very big. It looks good in size 10, but that’s not much bigger. I think a pair of these would make cute earrings, both in size 20 and in a smaller thread.
The pattern has been added to the My Patterns page. Funny story, while trying to put it on the page we lost power. Everything was off for about 15 minutes before coming back on. I was concerned about it going off again, so I delayed turning my computer back on until this morning. I suspect the high winds caused the outage, but I wasn’t sure.
I’ve been contacted by several people who have trouble reading the patterns from their location on Google Docs on their phones. It has something to do with the size of the page that Google Docs doesn’t like. I have not yet gotten it straight, though no one has had trouble seeing them on their computers. If you have trouble, please contact me and I’ll send you the pattern instead of what is on the Docs page.
I’ve been thinking of what my yearly Christmas ornament will be this year. I like the September Angel, but it’s small. I’ve come up with an idea, but it’s not yet ready. What I have tried so far is looking promising.
September Angel on a glass ornament
I have these clear glass ornaments I picked up at Micheal’s a few weeks ago. I cut strips of music, curled them, and put them inside. The greenery at the top could maybe have a bit more, but I like the idea. The angel is in size 10 thread, which looks a bit big to me. I’m going to try it with an angel in size 20, and see if that looks better.
I have a list of things I would like to tat before any of our Christmas get-togethers – one of which is before the 25th – but time is getting tight. If I don’t get them done by then, I might have to hand deliver them when they are.
How are your plans for Christmas coming?
“Every gift which is given, even though it be small, is in reality great, if it is given with affection.” Pindar
My sister and I had a booth at the craft show in Rose Hill, Kansas the 8th of October during their Fall Festival. She does embroidery by hand, which complements my tatting. She has been working on her stuff for months and months. I’ve not been so dedicated to the show items, getting sidetracked a lot. But it was a good show for both of us.
Craft show setup
The craft show started later than we usually see, but we found out that was due to the big parade they had. There were some shoppers the first couple of hours but not a lot, we were somewhat concerned that the day would be slow. About noon one of the organizers went around announcing the parade was over, and the people familiar with the event understood things would get busier soon. Which it did. There was a steady flow of shoppers for most of the event after that. We spoke to a lot of people about our items during the course of the show.
Most of my tatting at the show
There were a lot of people that looked at the tatting, a lot even knew what it was. There were a lot of “oh, my (insert older relative) did that but I never learned.” Some showed an interest in learning – I suggested to them if they would get a few people together I would be willing to come down to teach. One woman came by that actually did know how to tat! We had a lovely conversation about tatting and patterns. Unfortunately, I didn’t get her name. But it was enjoyable to speak to her.
One item that sold the best this weekend was my Hymnal Angel. I made them a bit smaller this year, cutting the paper three inches instead of five inches. And I used wooden beads for the heads.
Hymnal Angel for craft show
Something else that drew a lot of attention was my button sunflowers.
Sunflowers for the show
These sunflowers are fun and easy to make. I mostly used 9/16-inch buttons with a few 13/16-inch. I love how the buttons look in the center. I found a package of brown buttons in different diameters made out of coconut shells that look great, much better than plastic.
I put together a quick pattern for the sunflowers. They are very easy. If you are interested in it you can find it on the My Patterns page.
Here are a few of the things that got me sidetracked prior to the craft show.
Lid pet kitty with a ball of yarnLid pet kitty with butterfly
My granddaughter loves these. I put a magnet on the back as well as the hanger. I let her have the ones she wanted.
I was on vacation a week before the craft show, which is how I got so many of the angel wings and sunflowers made. I’ll be sharing a few of the pictures I took next post.
“Yellow is my favorite summer color – it makes me feel like a sunflower.”Bria Vinaite
So many things are going on right now that have created delays in my tatting life, including posting. If it’s not one thing it’s two others. But the good news is that I finally finished the pattern for the Isla Snowflake! Yay! It is listed on the My Patterns page.
Isla Snowflake
I have done some tatting in the last two weeks I just don’t have pictures ready. I’ve been doing a lot of cooking and taking meals to family. Now I know why I didn’t cook like this when I was working – it takes a lot of time! And the cleanup isn’t pretty, LOL! I find I use a lot of dishes – as well as knives, cutting boards, pans, and measuring devices. I’m glad I can do it and they appreciate it, but my, the time it takes!
I did remember that yesterday was pi day, did you? I even made a pie! It was a pudding pie and it was yummy! I did take a picture –
A pie for pi day 3.14
but I forgot until we had eaten most of it! Everyone enjoyed it though most didn’t know what I was talking about when I said it was pi day. It doesn’t matter, it was just an excuse to have pie.
Valentine’s Day will be here in a week and like most years I think I have to re-invent the wheel, or in this case, the heart. Sometimes I do okay, sometimes I don’t. I think I did okay this time.
January Hearts
I like the proportion of these hearts, which I don’t always get. These are made with only one shuttle and ball thread, simple and quick to make. Amazingly, I didn’t get overly complicated, LOL! I made these in Lizbeth # 671 Christmas Red in size 20, which makes a nice earring, but they wouldn’t have to be earrings.
Something else amazing, I have the pattern done for these already! Imagine that! I’ve added it to My Patterns page.
Speaking of patterns, I am making a few changes to the pattern page. The Keep and Share site where I have the downloads have a limit on how many downloads they allow in a day. If I want to allow more, it costs more. As I don’t charge for my patterns I don’t want to do that. I am changing which patterns can be downloaded to more recent or popular patterns. All the patterns are still available but may have to be requested by email.
I’ve been seeing a lot of tatted hearts on Facebook, Instagram, and blog posts the last week or so. Are you planning to tat hearts this year for Valentine’s Day?
“I enjoy celebrating Valentine’s Day. It’s a nice way to say you’re thinking about your family, someone special, or dear friends.” Camila Alves
Remember the Jasper snowflake I put on the front of the Tree-topper angel?
Jasper snowflake
I’ve finished the pattern! I’ve added it to My Patterns page. I’ve looked it over but did not have a test-tatter so there may be mistakes lurking. Let me know if one finds you! I’d love to see how it works up for you if you make it.
“Life is all about sharing. If we are good at something, pass it on. That is the pleasure I get from teaching – whether it is television or books. We should all share.” Mary Berry
I’m still working on the pattern for the wings I used for my tree-topper angel. I modified the wings I used for my hymnal angel and am happy with how they came out for the tree-topper, but I think the larger wings could be done better. I’m also modifying the original pattern because I think it could be done better, as well.
Larger wings on the tree-topper angel
I attached the wings on the tree-topper angel without joining them together. It has a much wider body than the hymnal angel, so it was impractical to join them as I had the other. When I tatted these you could say I was ‘winging’ it, trying to make them big enough to work with the body of the tree-topper. I would like to write out the pattern, but with something I am a bit happier with.
I made a wing only slightly modified from my original wing pattern in size 10 and the version of the wing I’m working on now, also in size 10.
Wings in two sizes
The new wing is quite a bit larger than the original. The newest version I’ve been working on is slightly bigger than the one I put on the angel.
Wing comparisons
When both are made in size 10 you can see that the newer version is only slightly bigger than the one on the angel but I think is a bit firmer. I also am leaving off the joining picots on the outside of the chains, but they can easily be added back in if desired.
Angel wings in two sizes
Wings A and B are the newer pattern, A in size 20, B in size 10. C and D are the old pattern with a slight modification in the centers, C in size 10, D in size 20. I’ve been debating about the stitch count of the chains but I think I found something that works.
Now the hard work starts – writing up the pattern. It feels like walking after I learned to fly.
Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall. Ray Bradbury
