Spring is approaching...

Here in Ottawa it's a beautiful day. The sun is shinning, snow is melting and you can feel spring is just around the corner. BUT this is Ottawa so its going to get really cold before it gets really warm. Last March we had our all time biggest snowfall on record. I actually got snowed into my house!

I thought I would share a butterfly in honor of the beautiful day. I made it awhile ago and I don't really remember how I did some of it. I made it last year for an exchange but sent something else instead. I didn't like it at the time but saw it a few months later and thought it was great. I think it would be nicer in different colors.

More fun than it looks...

In December I showed pictures of some beaded snowflakes I made to use up thread. Jane Eborall suggested way back then that I attach the snowflakes to bangles instead of stiffening them with glue. Of course, being a little bone-headed it took awhile for the idea to sink in. I tatted around a bangle for another project and loved it! So now I'm on a binge of bangle tatting. For sure I'm going to add the snowflakes to some bangles. Here's a blue bangle I'm covering to make a bracelet for a friend. Bangles are easier to cover than the small plastic rings because the shuttle can fit through the bangle. When you cover a plastic ring you basically tat as though making a split chain. A bangle is more like encapsulating.


Just in case you haven't done this before and because I'm so enthralled with tatting on bangles I'm showing how I do it.


For the first half of the double stitch pull the thread behind the bangle to form a hole between the uncovered bangle and the thread.

Then bring the shuttle from front to back through the hole made by the thread and the bare bangle.





















Pull thread up snug to form the first 1/2 of the double stitch.







For the 2nd half pull the thread in front of the bangle to form another hole. Then bring the shuttle from back to front through the space.


Then snug up to form the double stitch. No flipping involved. Throw on some picots, rings and beads and you have a new bracelet.

deer and cars don't mix...

My excitement for the week was hitting a deer bang on going 100 km/h on Monday evening. The very good news is that I'm relatively undamaged and so is my car. The deer was not so lucky and hopefully died quickly. I live in Ontario and there's lots and lots of deer so I'm fortunate this is the first deer I've hit. The difficult things is you rarely see them before you hit them. My hood is dented and the grill is broke but that's about it...I'm very sore. Being sore always makes me a little bitter. Fortunately I'm a Chiropractor and I work with a very good Chiropractor so I've got the treatment of my whiplash covered.

On a brighter note, my order Boutique tatting arrived from Marilee. I also ordered some thread- Midnight oil and Winter blend. I am very happy with the package. The book is great, there's lots of pictures and she takes the time to explain anything that may be confusing. I haven't tatted any of the patterns yet, I'm hoping to get a chance on Sunday. The thread is great, her colors are always so vivid. Unfortunately I can't unwind them to use because I shoved my empty floss holders somewhere and can't find them. I've looked everywhere- they must be in a really safe place.

I've been working on a submission for the Palmetto tatdays logo. I wasn't going to this year but then it just happened. I'm finished and sent my scan in today. I'm very happy with my pattern and am looking forward to seeing other ideas. They are taking submissions until the 18th and its a fun way to challenge yourself.

Single Shuttle Split Ring Madness

After seeing it on many of the tatting blogs I hunted down the mysterious Micro dragon by Anne Bruvold. I found it at the Online Tatting Class by Georgia Seitz. The pattern requires using an ingenious technique called the single shuttle split ring to make consecutive rings with only 1 shuttle. So simple, so smart and once you wrap your head around the idea its very easy. Since I'm always trying to keep the number of shuttles involved minimal I think its great! In fact I liked it so much I spent Saturday fiddling around with SSSRs. I made lots of dragons- here's two.

After making the dragons I continued to fool around to make a few dragonflies ( I should have made the wings larger and used black beads for the eyes). The red one kinda looks like a lobster.
Dragon fly
sp- small picot, lp- large picot, vlp- very large picot.
R 3-1-3
R 4/4
R 6/6
R 3 lp 2 vlp 2/ 2 vlp 2 lp 3
R 2 sp 3 lp 3 sp 2, cut and tie, cut lp.


Then I ended with a few baskets, one made only of SSSR and the other using SSSR and a split chain. I think that the split chain makes it look like mushroom.
SSSR Basket.
R 4 vsp 4
R 4/4 , 3 times then join to vsp of 1st ring to create the base.
If making the ring handle then R 4/4 ,6 times join last ring to 1st ring tie and cut.
If making chain handle then split chain 26 ds or as needed to fill space.

In other news, I'm excited today because I ordered Marilee's book Boutique tatting. I want to make the Bedazzled butterfly necklace to go with a strapless black dress I'm wearing to a wedding. In a few weeks. I can't wait to try out a few of her patterns and I love books with lots and lots of pictures!

Valentine's arrival

Just in time to cheer me up after a bout with the flu my secret valentine's package arrived from Heidi. She sent lots of chocolate, including dove chocolates that have a message on the inside of the wrapper. Even if she hadn't signed the card I would know it came from south of the border. Canadians will instantly spot what I mean.

Here's a closer look: Yeah, you got it- no french! If this was bought in Canada it would have both french and english on it.
The exchange included a decorated tea towel. Heidi didn't realise that it was supposed to be an edging as well as hearts so she improvised using crochet to attach the hearts. I think it turned out nicely! Sorry the picture quality is pretty crappy but you get the idea.

Heidi sent a few other things including sticky notes (which I absolutely love to the point of shamelessly stealing them from friends), beads, blue jewelery box, sweethearts, and a nail file.

Thanks Heidi.

I'd also like to take a moment to thank my Secret Santa from Iowa. In January I tried posting a few times about what she sent me but I was having mysterious computer problems at the time. The posts kept disappearing. Needless to say it was a great package. Thanks.

The ever useful rosette

On her blog Sharon Briggs challenged tatters to show different things they can do with the rosette. She actually meant for people to design something but I thought I would share with you a lavender sachet I've done over the years. Its 2 simple rosettes put together using long picots on the outside round. The picture isn't great because I used the scanner. All of the beads are added afterwards, although I think that beaded picots would work just as well. I wrap the lavender in cloth or tissue paper and stick it in before I close it off. I've also made an amulet bad the same way. A couple years ago I made a bunch of these for Christmas. Lavender is often put into drawers or closets to protect clothing from moths.

Bermuda Triangle

I swear I'm caught in the Bermuda triangle of the blogging world. I keep making posts that disappear. Today a post that was missing reappeared as unposted. Sigh.

Valentines Day is one of my favorite holidays (although many would not agree its a holiday). I love it because its one of the few times you can get away with sticking hearts all over the place and combining pinks and reds. In honor of a holiday in which the main aim is to eat chocolates I am posting a few simple, no-brainer heart patterns. These were inspired by Mary Konoir's Beauty Spots edging in her book Tatting with Visual Patterns. The are so simple that they only require that you know how to make rings and Josephine knots.

Jos and Rings Heart

R1 7-4-4-7
R2 11-4-7
R3 7+4-4-7
R4 7+4-4-7, jn to 1st picot in R1
JK10, JK10, jn to 2nd picot in R1
R5 4-4, jn to 2nd picot in R1
JK 10, JK 10, jn to 3rd picot in R1
R6 7-4-4-7
R7 7+4-4-7
R8 7+4-11, tie into R1

Jo-Jo Heart

R1 7-4-4-7
JK10
R2 11-4-7
R3 7+4-4-7
R4 7+4-4-7,
JK10, jn to 1st picot in R1
JK10, jn to 2nd picot in R1
R5 7-7, jn to 2nd picot in R1
JK 10, jn to 3rd picot in R1
JK 10
R6 7-4-4-7
R7 7+4-4-7
R8 7+4-11,
JK 10, tie into R1

Dancing Heart

JK 10 – this will nestle into R1
R1 7-4-4-7
R2 7-4-7
R3 7+4-4-7
R4 7+4-4-7, jn to 1st picot in R1
JK10, jn to 2nd picot in R1
R5 7-7, jn to 2nd picot in R1
JK 10 jn to 3rd picot in R1
R6 7-4-4-7
R7 7+4-4-7
R8 7+4-7, tie into R1