Getting ready for Tat Days

Tatting Corner’s Tat Days start in just over a week, July 6, 7, & 8. I’m trying to prepare for the classes I will be taking.

Tat Days class descriptions on wandasknottythoughts
Tat Days class descriptions

I’ve been reviewing the project descriptions and lists of what each requires, such as thread color and size, how many shuttles, etc. I have plenty of shuttles but some of them have threads from previous projects still on them. The last week or so I’ve been emptying them by making doodles and small motifs.

Miscellaneous doodles and motifs on wandasknottythoughts
Miscellaneous doodles and motifs

These are a few doodles and such that have come off my shuttles this week. I really need to empty my shuttles when I’m done with a project instead of waiting until I need the shuttles. I had enough shuttles emptied for the upcoming classes when I found more shuttles.

Loaded shuttles on wandasknottythoughts
Loaded shuttles

I don’t know that I’m going to take time to remove all the threads from these before we leave for Indiana, but I know what I should be doing whenever I get the chance. I found a box with loaded shuttles that still has the project attached.

Unfinished mermaid from 2022 Tat Days on wandasknottythoughts
Unfinished Mermaid from 2022 Tat Days

This is the only class project from last year’s Tat Days that I did not finish. Pearl is a cute mermaid, but somewhat complicated. I’m going to try finishing her before we leave. Where the hands are joined is a bit tricky, I might have to ask for help. When finished, she will be a great piece to put on a vest or shirt, or bag for the upcoming cruise in November.

Now I need to go back to list making and bill paying so I am ready to leave at the end of the week. Tat Days, here I come!

“He, who every morning plans the transactions of the day, and follows that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through a labyrinth of the most busy life.” Victor Hugo

A Few Gifts

My mother has been going through her stuff, trying to thin them out. When she finds items she thinks I might like, she gifts them to me. I can’t keep everything she gives me, but I love that she thinks of me and gives me these little things. Recently she gave me a bag with sewing notions.

Sewing notions on wandasknottythoughts
Sewing notions

I’m not sure how old any of these are, but it is obvious they are not new.

Old wooden spools of thread on wandasknottythoughts
Old wooden spools of thread

Check out the cost of two of these spools of thread! The thread is old enough that I expect it would break when sewing with them. I wouldn’t try to use it unless I had to. All of the spools are wooden, which for some reason I just love.

Wooden needle cases on wandasknottythoughts
Wooden needle cases

All three of the wooden needle cases have needles in them. Each is labeled to have three needles inside, which they do, but two cases have five needles. And not all the same size. I do not know if these needles will work in my sewing machine, but I plan to check.

Mom doesn’t know where the needlebook came from, and there is no information on it except what you see. The back of the book looks just like the front.

Inside the needlebook on wandasknottythoughts
Inside the needlebook

Some of the needles have been used and a few are missing. I’m not seeing any needles here that will work for the thread I use in tatting, but I do sew buttons on once in a while, LOL!

My brother-in-law gave me a pretty cool gift recently. He knew it was something I wouldn’t use, but he thought it was funny.

Weaving shuttle on wandasknottythoughts
Weaving shuttle

According to Google, this is a wooden weaving shuttle. Check out how big it is! I have included the ruler and two tatting shuttles to show just how large it is. It does look like there is something broken on it. But it’s a cool gift. I think it will be a great decoration in my craft room.

I haven’t gotten much tatting done lately. Or much done on my patterns, either. I’m hoping to get back into both soon. I have gotten a bit of motivation from a couple of emails about preparation for Tatting Corning’s Tat Days in July. This is happening in three weeks! I need to start getting my tatting organized for the classes I’m taking.

“There is only one real deprivation… and that is not to be able to give one’s gifts to those one loves most.” May Sarton

Old Edging and a DAL Snowflake

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 the 2nd time on wandasknottythoughts
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 o wandasknottythoughts
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.

“Design is thinking made visual.” Saul Bass

Busy, Busy

I have been very busy the last few weeks, which put writing on my blog at the bottom of my to-do list. I have done some tatting but I have not gotten anywhere on writing out any patterns.

League track meets and tennis matches involving my grandkids meant I was traveling a lot trying to make all of them. There were also a few events besides these that were all-day affairs, leaving me tired and hot (or cold) and uninterested in doing anything after making it home.

One of my grandsons was just confirmed into our church. This is not a sacrament or a divine ordinance, but a public recognition of a person’s instruction of the Word and confession of faith. In our congregation, this ceremony is done when the person is about 14 years old, after several years of specific study. I made him my April’s Cross bookmark with modified ends to celebrate the occasion.

April Cross Bookmark for confirmation on wandasknottythoughts
April’s Cross Bookmark for confirmation.

When making it this time I just didn’t care for the look of the ends of the original pattern. I like this better, but I spent an inordinate amount of time getting the stitch count to a place I was happy. I suppose at some point I may add this change to the pattern. My 14-year-old grandson was not all that impressed with this gift. I’m hoping that maybe someday he will appreciate it a bit more.

I haven’t been in the mood to do much in the way of starting or finishing my tatting projects, maybe too tired after all the events and traveling, but I did get some tatting done. The case on my phone is clear and plain. I’ve thought a bit of tatting would look good on it but have not done anything about it. The other day I ran across a ball of thread labeled Star Tatting Crochet in white/off-white. It looks to be smaller than size 40, maybe 70?

Old Star tatting thread on wandasknottythoughts
Old Star tatting thread

I tatted a small ring in the Star thread and another of the same stitch count in Lizbeth size 40.

Star thread comparison on wandasknottythoughts
Star thread comparison

It is definitely smaller than the size 40. I’m pretty sure that the old thread I’ve seen before was labeled 70, so I’m going with that. I made several doodles with it to see how it would look and fit in the phone case.

Phone cover with tatting on wandasknottythoughts
Phone cover with tatting

The tatting is not glued down to anything, but placed between the phone and the case. It is good the thread is so small as it causes the case to be not quite as tight to the phone as it is supposed to be. This allows the tatting to move a bit, but not much, and only in some circumstances. I’ll probably change the tatting in this if/when I come up with other ideas. This certainly changes the look of the case for the better and I’m glad I wasn’t too busy to try it.

“I don’t care how busy I am – I will always make time for what’s most important to me.” Kevin Hart

Making a few changes

I’ve been working on the ‘Iris’ cross bookmark I shared last week. I made a few tweaks as I worked on writing the pattern and tatted it again.

I tatted the original in size 10 thread, bigger than I usually work in. I saw the color and just knew I wanted to use it, and it was in size 10, so that was it. The cross came out the first time with minimal trouble. It ended up being six inches tall by six inches across, much larger than I think of as fitting in a normal book. I decided to make it in a smaller thread as I verified the stitch count.

Iris Cross bookmark in size 10 on wandasknottythoughts
Iris Cross bookmark in size 10

I usually tat in size 20 thread, which would make this cross smaller, but I thought that it might not make it small enough, so I made it in size 40. Which I don’t tat in much, either, so it took longer to tat it. But the end result is about what I was hoping for.

Iris v 2 in size 40 on wandasknottythoughts
Iris v 2 in size 40

The center of the cross has a wonderful pattern, but I was concerned that handling it as a bookmark would be too floppy. I added a picot to the corner chains to make it less floppy. While tatting in the small thread the ends of the arms didn’t come out looking the same as the original so I changed up the stitch count a bit there as well.

Iris v 3 in size 40 on wandasknottythoughts
Iris v 3 in size 40

On the next cross, I changed the stitch count at the ends of the arms again and they came out better, but I still wasn’t happy with them. The shuttle 2 clovers at the tips twisted a lot. This would be a problem if it were handled much.

Iris cross bookmark version 4 on wandasknottythoughts
Iris cross bookmark version 4

The fourth cross came out much better. The tips of the arms are more secure and less able to twist. I am also happier with the look of the ends. I’m wondering if I should leave off the picots I added to hold the center firmer. In the small thread will it be okay without them? I like the look better without that picot.

It is amazing how different the cross looks making it the two different size threads. What are your thoughts? Which one do you like best?

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.“ Alan Watts

New Bookmark

It’s spring, so it must be time for another bookmark. This time of year brings many occasions for gifts, and I usually include something tatted, often a bookmark. This year, one of my grandsons and three other eighth graders are being confirmed in our church. I’m making each of them a cross bookmark to celebrate the occasion.

Phoebe cross bookmark on wandasknottythoughts
Iris cross bookmark

As usual, I couldn’t just use a pattern I already had, I had to try something different. I do fancy how the center came out with this. It is made of size 10 Lizbeth #647 Purple Iris Dark and measures 6 inches by 6 inches, almost too big for a bookmark. I’ll be making the ones for the confirmands in a smaller thread, and probably in a shade of red.

I’ve worked on this cross and a few other items, but spent more time outside this last week or two. It’s been so nice outside I don’t want to sit inside and the wind makes it challenging to tat outside. I don’t have many flowering plants to enjoy yet, but the trees are blooming.

Red bud tree blooming on wandasknottythoughts
Redbud tree blooms

We have two Redbud trees in our yard. I always look forward to them blooming.

Pear bloom on wandasknottythoughts
Apricot blooms

My neighbor has several fruit trees at the edge of the yard. They are so beautiful when they bloom.

Apple bloom on wandasknottythoughts
Apple bloom

The apple trees are blooming a bit behind the other trees. I was afraid our tree wouldn’t bloom, but it finally is showing a few.

Once in a while, I even catch a picture of a bird. This one is from a few weeks ago. I haven’t been filling the feeders much, so I’m not seeing as many pretty ones yet this year as I’ve seen in the past.

Bird in a bare tree on wandasknottythoughts
Bird in a bare tree

It’s finally spring. We even had rain a couple of nights ago! Our area in Kansas has been in a drought for a while now. Most of the state is in Extreme to Exceptional drought. Any rain is welcome, and the inch we got is wonderful! Now I need to weed the flower beds and get a few flowers out. A few perennials survived the winter but aren’t ready to bloom yet. The weeds are blooming everywhere!

“If the English language made any sense, lackadaisical would have something to do with a shortage of flowers.” Doug Larson

More Bookmarks Needed

The last few weeks have seen several losses of family or friends, though none close to me. Our pastor lost his father and my mother lost a close friend, both to illness. For such occasions, I give cross bookmarks with sympathy cards. I found that I am out of any bookmarks and in need of making more.

Cross bookmark for pastor on wandasknottythoughts
Cross bookmark for our pastor

I chose Lizbeth thread ‘Caribbean’ in size 20 to make the bookmark I’m giving to our pastor. It’s a beautiful color that doesn’t seem too bright to give for a solemn occasion. I used my Graduation Bookmark pattern, which is based on a traditional cross pattern. I haven’t made one for my mom yet, but that’s next.

As the name implies, I also use this pattern for graduations. I have a couple of those coming up, so I need to make several more. Let’s see if I make them in this pattern or something else.

I’ve been tatting more than this, just nothing quite ready to show yet. I did take some pictures the other morning when we had a bit of fog.

Fog at sunrise on wandasknottythoughts
Fog at sunrise
Tractor in fog on wandasknottythougths
Tractor in fog

Sometimes there are beautiful views in places we see every day.

A Doily and a Bottle

I’ve kept working on the green doily from several weeks ago. I am particularly delighted with this doily. I think I’m done but I may yet do another round. Right now, it is six inches across. I am, slowly, working on the pattern for this. I’ve named it “Shae”, meaning good, favorable. An Irish name, as I made it in March, and one I can pronounce!

Shae doily on wandasknottythoughts
Shae doily

I’ve been thinking about how to use tatting in different ways. In October, I put a tatted sunflower on a bottle by hanging it on a thread around the bottleneck. Not bad, but more could be done. I took this idea a bit further, putting a few more decorations with the tatting.

Sunflower bottle on wandasknottythoughts
Sunflower bottle

This was something of a fortuitous accident, as I had added the leaves to the sunflower and held it up to the bottle for placement – and I got it too close. At that point, the sunflower was where it was going to be. Good thing I like it there. I also added lights to the bottle.

Sunflower bottle with lights on wandasknottythoughts
Sunflower bottle with lights

The pictures don’t do the bottle justice. I took it as a prize to a bingo game on St. Patrick’s day. It was very well received. I see more decorated bottles in my future, probably with more tatting on them.

Now I need to work a bit on Easter tatting, or maybe things for spring.

“A book is simply the container of an idea like a bottle; what is inside the book is what matters.” Angela Carter