Christmas Stars

I got so many compliments on the stars I decided to share the pattern.  The only down side is that I don't know where you'll find the plastic crystals but any bead around the same size will do.  They work really well as Christmas Tree ornaments as well as sun catchers.

Christmas Stars by Vicki Clarke

Supplies
Thread- size 10 red or green wound CTM with ball
2 paperclips
Crochet hook
Beads as used in picture-
Center- 15mm hexagon plastic crystal
15 4x4 Miyuki cubes
15 Size 10 seed beads added onto the ball thread
Comment:  This is a pretty forgiving pattern. You can change thread size or beads without much problem. For example, you can also use size 20 thread with a 13mm center and 6/0 Miyuki beads.  I have also added beads to some of the lock joins to add more bling.

Short Terms
Ls- lock stitch, 1st half unflipped 2nd half flipped
Lj- lock join, use shuttle thread to pull up loop and put shuttle through loop
3b- pull up three beads from the ball thread to make a beaded picot

Start: pull loop through crystal and hold using paperclip ls

Round 1
*Pull loop of shuttle thread through cube and hold with paperclip
Ch 8 lj to space held by paper clip* repeat 4X
Once you’ve added 5 beads then lj to space held by 1st paperclip (loop through crystal)
Repeat from * to * 5 X lj to space below 1st ls

Round 2
* Ch 8
pull loop of shuttle thread through cube and hold with paperclip
Ch 4 3b 4 lj to space held by paperclip
Ch 8 lj to space between 2nd and 3rd cubes on round 1* (make this lock join around both threads, not just the ball thread)
Repeat 4x, each joining to the space between every other cube i.e. 4&5, 6&7, 8 & 9, 10 & 1 to give you 5 points.  Tie and cut

Like a little Christmas elf


















The last few weeks I've been working away like a little elf making Christmas themed sun catchers for my sister and mom to give their co-workers for Christmas. I'm done and that's off my plate. If I finish a couple of bookmarks then I've got tatting time to waste! I'm going to waste it with the gingerbread thread I ordered from Tatskool. No idea what to do. But I guess I'll be going with the theme of the thread!
  
 

 The last thread I ordered was from was from Krystledawn.  I have rarely used up a whole skein up hand dyed thread but I used up all of her love potion #9!  It was a fun mixture of greys and purples which became the center of a doily and butterflies...lots of butterflies.  You can't see in the picture but I used grey delica beads that match the grey in the thread.  I was really inspired by this thread and grey is my current favorite color. 

Love Potion # 9 thread by Krystledawne, pattern by me!



Chocolate mmmmm....

I almost missed the deadline for Ambitatterous's contest!  I thought that tomorrow was the last day of November Gasp!   Fortunately I realised that today was in fact the last day to enter.

In order to decorate a box of chocolates I had to think of a story.  I went through a few scenarios in my head but this is the one that stuck.The chocolates in this box are crafted in a secret laboratory somewhere in Belgium.  Special ingredients are compiled from mystical plantations deep in the Americas and carried under armed guard across the ocean.  Specially trained monks mix the chocolate in silence to create the richest chocolate in the world.  Rich and creamy chocolate deserves a rich exterior so these chocolates come sealed by a Sapphire pendant that protects the chocolates from contamination.  The pendant is embedded in a flower found only in the depths of the rain forest.   This flower helps to preserve the natural flavors of the chocolates and brings good luck to all that hold it.  No need for any labels because anyone who receives the box knows what's inside.

The Sapphire

One Last Look

Its in the air

I can smell the turkey cooking from up here!  Just a quick note to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! 

 In case you've hit a roadblock on thankful things here's a 101 things to be thankful for: 
(list by Craig Jones and published on Ezine articles)

1. A beautiful song
2. A comfortable chair
3. A cool breeze
4. A drink of cool water
5. A full moon
6. A gentle rain
7. A glass of cold milk
8. A good book to read
9. A good coat
10. A good husband
11. A good pillow
12. A good wife
13. A scenic drive
14. Air conditioning
15. Banana splits
16. Beaches in the morning
17. Beautiful women
18. Birds singing
19. Blue jeans
20. Brothers
21. Butterflies
22. Butterfly kisses
23. Ceiling fans
24. Children laughing
25. Christmas morning
26. Clothes that fit well
27. Comfortable shoes
28. Compliments
29. Computers that work
30. Cooing Babies
31. Cream Brule
32. Dark Chocolate
33. Dishwashers
34. Diversity
35. Dried pineapple slices
36. Fairness
37. Crackling fire in a fireplace
38. Flowers
39. Freedom of religion
40. Freedom of speech
41. Fresh ideas
42. Friendly dogs
43. Good conversation
44. Good eyesight
45. Good friends
46. Good health
47. Good movies
48. Good teachers
49. Good tires
50. Grace
51. Grandchildren
52. Grandma
53. Grandpa
54. Hair spray
55. High-speed Internet access
56. Holding hands
57. Homemade ice cream
58. Honest people
59. Hugs
60. Ice cubes
61. Indoor plumbing
62. Kind men
63. Kittens
64. Laughter
65. Live Christmas trees
66. Morning coffee
67. Parking spaces near the front
68. Peanut butter
69. Plenty of closet space
70. Polyester
71. Polite drivers
72. Porch swings
73. Pregnant women
74. Puppies
75. Quiet mornings
76. Rainbows
77. Remote Controls
78. Roasted peanuts
79. Shade trees
80. Silk pajamas
81. Sisters
82. Smiles
83. Snow covered mountains
84. Snowflakes
85. Soft toilet paper
86. Sunrises
87. Sunsets
88. Thanksgiving dinner
89. That I wasn't in the obituaries today
90. The color of autumn leaves
91. The ocean
92. The smell of a Sunday roast cooking
93. The smell of homemade bread
94. The words "I love you"
95. Tire swings
96. True friends
97. Uninterrupted dinners
98. Warm kisses
99. Warm showers
100. Whipped cream
101. White puffy clouds
102. Wrinkle-free clothes
103. Tatting

In case you were wondering...

If you're wondering where all the angst about facebook has come from you can blame continuing education.   Last weekend I was at a conference and one of the speakers used a podcast from http://www.ted.com/ to explain social connectivity, leadership and social media (pretty smart guy named Seth Godin).  The idea was tribal cultures and how people of like interests connect through tools like the Internet.   How someone from England can connect to someone in Canada through social media to create tribes of people with similar interests.

So in the middle of this conference am I thinking of connecting to other Chiropractors?  No, I'm wondering who was the first tatter to trespass into this brave new world?  In 2001 or 2002 I had a monumental brain storm to search for tatting on the Internet.  At that time there was already a flourishing community of tatting websites based on tatting.   Georgia Seitz was already up and running with her online class.  Chat rooms had been running.   There were lots of free patterns available on the Internet and I spent lots of time printing off patterns and techniques I had never seen before.  Now there's even tatters twittering...

I was just curious if anyone remembers when they first started looking on the Internet and when it became a community (or a tribe as Seth would call it)?

the workings of facebook...

...are a mystery to me.  This may seem strange but I'm seriously afraid of facebook.  It just didn't seem that interesting until I realised that I could stalk  people!  And by stalk I mean look up old friends.   I have to confess that it was fun to look up someone and see what they are doing.  Since most people have closed pages I only got to peak at them.  What isn't closed is their friends and who they've been in contact with.   It reminded me of people I totally forgot or whose name I would never remember.  Its kinda like taking a walk at night and looking in your neighbor's window!  Oh yes, I do that!  I grew up in a small town where everyone new each other's business.  Its a defense mechanism.  You have to be prepared to blackmail the person threatening to tell all your secrets! lol!

I'm a little embarrassed that I only have one picture.  Most of my friends have lots.  For some reason I'm afraid that some crazy is going to see my picture on facebook then hunt me down and kill me.  Too much Criminal Minds and NCIS! lol!  Or it maybe my Mom that's given me these crazy thoughts.

I mean the gig is up.  I've been doing a blog for a couple years and it only takes 2 seconds to google me.  What comes up is not surprise- I'm a Chiropractor and I tat.  In fact, once someone looks me up they've got my whole life in front of them.   Maybe I should be working harder to control their first impression? 

This was brought to my attention the other day in a bar.  Salima and I went to Baton Rouge and the only seats were at the bar which is always fun.  A gentleman who took the seat next to us had an  iPhone and we asked a whole bunch of questions about the difference between and iPhone and a blackberry (he was hot and we were bored).  Well, in 5 minutes he had everything just from telling him our website address. 

So if everything about my life is floating in cyberspace some where why am I so nervous?

The people that keep us safe...

I went with friends and family to the Remembrance Day ceremonies in Manotick today.  My friend's son Ayan (almost 3yrs) asked his mom (Sal) what we were doing.  Sal told him that we are thanking all the people that keep us safe. That struck me as the perfect way to explain Remembrance day to an infant.