Teddybear Pumpkin Zipper Pull

I meant to put this up in September but time got away from me.  The teddy bear bead used for the center can be found at Dollarstores or bead stores.  Its a very common bead but you can use a 6mm bead instead.  Really its just what you have handy.  I used DMC thread because I have a crap load of it but I think that size 20 tatting thread is a good substitue.  I made the pattern last year so I can't remember what other threads I tried at the time. 

Teddy Bear Pumpkin Zipper Pull

Vicki Clarke 2010 victats@gmail.com

Materials
2 yards DMC size 8 orange thread
Bear Bead ( or substitute a 6 mm bead)
Wind 1/2 yard on shuttle CTM with ball
Split ring finding (if making a necklace or zipper pul)
Green sequin (optional or substitute a green bead)
LS- lock stitch
lj- lock join

Instructions:
Pull thread through bear bead from bottom to top and hold loop using paperclip

Round 1
Ch1 LS 3 p 4 p 4 p 4 lj (to space held by paperclip) 4 p 4 p 4 p 4 lj (to beginning just under the lock stitch)

Round 2
Ch2 6
R 3+ (1st p of ch1) 3
Ch3 10
R 3+ (2nd p of ch1) 3
Ch4 8
R 3+ (3rd p of ch1) 3
Ch5 12 lj (to space above 1st lj on ch1)/ ball join to sequin and split ring finding (when pulling up the thread leave it slightly loose so the split ring can turn easily)
Ch6 12
R 3+ (4th p of ch1) 3
Ch7 8
R 3+ (5th p of ch1) 3
Ch8 10
R 3+ (6th p of ch1) 3
Ch9  6 join back to beginning. Cut and hide ends

Guess what I got to do this morning!

I got to make shoes!   Okay, not actually a shoe from scratch but I got to tear apart a shoe and start adding stuff to it...kinda like remodelling a house.  I'm taking a course on foot wear and one of the things we get to do is modify a shoe.  So today I got to sew a sew, rip the bottom off a pair of shoes and glue...lots of glue.  I go in on Saturday and will take my camera with me so I can take a few pictures.

Pumpkin Patch



All 3 together


I keep seeing altered pumpkins when checking out the early Halloween decorators.  I've kinda grown attached to those crazy pumpkins and decided to try tatting an altered pumpkin brooch using beads.  I guess its kinda interpretational but I like what I turned out.  I find its challenging to take pictures of tatting when there's crystals involved.  I find I get one aspect really good and compromise another.  Either the beads or the tatting, rarely both at once.

You can't see the stone very well but the tatting really shows up



The stone and crystals show up but not so much the stitching



All 3 again but the black ones don't show up very well.  I thought the black looked better than the orange. 

Busy weekend

I had a busy weekend.  Me and a few other suckers..oops I mean leaders took a bunch of Brownies and Sparks camping.  We went to Camp Woolsey which is close to Ottawa.  It rocked!  Even though the weather was cold and a little windy the girls all cooked their own hot dogs and s'mores over the fire.  Pretty exciting for a 5-8 year old!  I'm not sure who suffered more- the leaders in the cabin with the girls waiting to cook their lunch or the ones outside in the wind.  I guess its a draw.

The girls did the clean up afterwards and had duties that they had to do after each meal.  As a reward they got this wonderful duty roster pin for on their hats!  Isn't it great?

You know the best part about this camp?  We all shared the planning.  All of the groups in the area pooled resources and we got together to plan the weekend.  A few people picked up the groceries and a few did the crafts.  BEST CAMP EVER! 

Until I locked my keys in the cabin and had to commit a felony in order to drive home.