Category: wishbone

Wishbone Thimble Holder

My sister’s birthday was a few weeks ago. My present to her was a turkey wishbone thimble holder that she had requested to replace the one I had given to her years ago which had broken recently. I mentioned in a previous post that I had started it but run into a bit of a problem. I started again and had another problem.

Broken wishbone on wandasknottythoughts
Broken wishbone

I can’t blame the dog this time. I sat on it. I had been sooooo careful and then I lost track of it for just a minute! That’s all it took. So I had to start over.

Turkey wishbone thimble holder on wandasknottythjoughts
Turkey wishbone thimble holder

Even after having to start it three times, I got it done in time for her birthday! My sister loved it! I was thinking of making another change that morning but talked myself out of it. I can make those changes on the next one! This is done in Lizbeth size 20 # 663 Bright Turquoise Dark and # 632 Purple Medium. I’m disappointed that I didn’t get a better picture, this one does not show the true colors, it’s washed out.

I got the idea of doing this from a thimble holder I received from my husband’s grandmother a long time ago. I understood her sister made it.

Great aunt's thimble holder on wandasknottythoughts
Great aunt’s thimble holder

You can see that the basket is crocheted with the tatting on the outside. The ribbon was already this threadbare when I got it.

Back of great aunt's thimble holder on wandasknottythoughts
Back of great aunt’s thimble holder

The wishbone is much smaller than the ones I’ve been getting. Looking at it I thought it might be a chicken wishbone, but I think it was from a much smaller turkey. It looks like the tatting was done separately, then added to the crochet that was done around the bone. The thread is at least a size 10. I’m not sure if this is the original color or it has been discolored with age. I’m not about to try washing it, I’m worried it might start coming apart. It has been hanging in one of the bedrooms in our house for years.

I had never seen or heard of something like this before being given this one. Since then I saw one in an antique store. I should have bought it when I saw it, but I didn’t. I’m sure I make these a bit differently than my husband’s great aunt did, as I spray mine with a sealer before adding the thread. I’ve made a few of them over the years, but this is the first time I’ve broken the bone in the process. I’ll have to be more careful next time!

“To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone.” Reba McEntire

Mistakes and Oopsies

I have found that my dog takes up a lot of my time. She likes to have my attention, and I like to watch her play and explore her world. This equals not as much tatting time or as much computer time. I need to pay attention to both of those activities that I am putting elsewhere – the dog! This leads to not much done on any of the patterns I’ve been working on, or much tatting at all.

I have been keeping up with Jane Eborall’s 2022 TIAS. She is up to day 6, and so am I. There has been a bit of drama getting there. I finished day 3 and started on day 4, where the bead would be added. I got the first ring of day 4 done when I noticed I had made a mistake on day 3. Instead of starting over, I decided to take out the previous two rings to where the mistake was. Things did not go as well as I expected.

Thread broken day 3 on wandasknottythoughts
Taking out a mistake from day 3

I don’t usually have much trouble opening rings. Not saying I always can, but more often than not I can. This time I broke the thread of shuttle one.

At that point, I decided I might as well go on to the previous ring where my mistake was and fix the thread when I got back to it.

Broken thread on shuttle 2 as well on wandasknottythoughts
Broken thread on shuttle 2 as well

Opening the next ring I broke the thread on shuttle two as well! It might have been faster to just start over at this point, but I added the thread back on and continued from there. Now I have a mess of thread ends that need to be cut off.

TIAS repaired and on to day 4 on wandasknottythoughts
TIAS repaired and on to day 4

I’ll cut the ends off later. I usually leave them somewhat long so they don’t work their way loose before I’m done.

TIAS through day 6 on wandasknottythoughts
TIAS through day 6

The TIAS is now through day 6. I’m still not sure what it is, maybe a bird? Several people have guessed seahorses. But it is only day 6, it could still be a lot of things, and Jane isn’t saying!

One of the few other things I’ve been working on is a wishbone thimble holder for my sister. (My first ever blog post was about making one of these!) The one I had made for her years ago had been broken. She supplied a turkey wishbone with the request I make her another. I had prepped the wishbone by sanding it to make it smooth and then sprayed it with a clear sealer. I had the bone covered with thread but had not started the tatting yet when…

Wishbone mishap on wandasknottythoughts
Wishbone mishap

One of the few things the dog has gotten into that she shouldn’t. I thought the sealer would disguise that it was a bone, but I guess not. And I didn’t have it far enough out of reach. Now I get to start over. Oh, boy.

“What’s so fascinating and frustrating and great about life is that you’re constantly starting over, all the time, and I love that.” Billy Crystal

First post

Well, I’m going to try blogging. I’ve been reading some really great ones and I’m excited to try it myself.
I’m going to start with an old idea, at least in our family. This is a turkey wishbone thimble holder. A great-great aunt of my husband’s had made these, some with tatting and some with crochet. I decided I would give it a try. Unlike my husband’s aunt’s, I sprayed the bone with a sealer before putting the thread on.
My kids liked what it looked like after I was done, but a little unhappy because they never got to break the wishbone at Thanksgiving.