New Column Listing

    No photo this time, but if you look in the column at the right, I have added a section for my experiments. I think this may be better than putting them on the main page. The first one has 10 photos and I don't want to overwhelm the home page.
    Experiments will take place as I need them or think of them. Comments and suggestions are definitely welcome!

Rockingham Cross

    It's turning out to be a pretty good week this week. I only had to work 2 half days to help someone out. Then home to tat, among other things. I want to continue watching Game of Thrones, cut some wood and clean the yard, and watch football. Mostly I will be tatting.

    I just finished this one from Mary Konior's book Tatting in Lace. It is called Rockingham and is on page 109. I have been lucky enough to have all 4 of the tatting  books she did. I found them at what I think were good prices, too. I am actively pursuing another book, this one by Dora Young. I want the book "All New Knotless Tatting Designs". Eventually it has to show up somewhere.

The Ball, Part 2

    Today is Christmas. Merry Christmas to everyone. It has been a good Christmas for me. I finally got a day to do some of what I want. The main one was to finish the Christmas ball I was doing. My own pattern, for once. I was going to put something between the points, but it looks as though they would have been about even so that would mean only a straight line, and I didn't want that. A couple of other people said that I should just stop and leave the pins. That is what I will do. I like those little pins. They seem to be small beads so they do set it off a bit. Anyway, tomorrow, on to something else.

Christmas Troll

    I finally got this figured out somewhat. Ruth Perry has published her pattern for a Christmas troll on her weblog (https://tatting.wordpress.com/). Several people on Craftree are making them so I had to try also. The reverse ring is not hard to do at all if you know how to make unflipped stitches. What got me was trying to do two of them with just about 2' of thread for a ball thread. (I recommend at least a yard for ease. And put it on a shuttle. Much easier to handle.) And the pattern appears to call for 2 reverse rings. Well, I tried that and for the life of me cannot figure how to get the second one (the head) as a reverse ring. I used a mock ring instead. Would someone help me out here and tell me how to do it? When I tried, to close the ring left a big loop of thread. Do I just cut that and tie off? I did not try that. I did try wrapping the loop backwards. Didn't help. So how is it done?
    Oh, yeah. I did not add the hair yet. Might do that later. I do really like the "teddy bear" ears.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

Christmas Present

    I got my Christmas present to me yesterday. Pretty, isn't it? 20 balls, 10 colors, size 80 Lizbeth. Yes I do have something in mind for it. No, I won't tell you yet. This is probably too much thread, but I have a habit of ordering too much because once I had not ordered enough. I figure can keep for other projects too.

     To be honest, I think the colors just laying there are pretty in their own right.

I am still working on the TAT program and I have to finish my Christmas ball. I just have to get time. The company I work for still insists on long days. Yesterday I was so tired when I got home that I was in bed around 6:45. Dropped off to sleep quickly too. At least I am off next week (except Wednesday). I hope to get some of my tatting caught up then. 

The Ball

    So the split chain worked out OK. I continued with it to try to create a cover for a 3" satin ball. Below is my attempt. I am not a designer by any stretch of the imagination, but this is what came out when I just let the shuttle work where it wanted to. I plan to make another for the bottom, then offset the points and Josephine rick rack them together. Hope it comes out like I want.

    Now I need to figure out how to make a pattern for it. I have an AutoCAD drawing that I can follow, but it is just lines and circles with numbers added. I suppose someone else could follow it, but I would really like to be able to do it with a professional look. Probably the perfectionist in me. 
    I do have ideas for other things, it is, as we have all said before, just a matter of getting time. Working 10 hours a day really cuts into my tatting time. At least I don't work weekends. I let them know I won't. I have to have some "me" time.

Split Chains

    It's been a busy week at work. Have not had much time for tatting (sob, wail, sob). I would rather tat than work, but I also know what pays the bills.
    I am also working on the projects for the TAT program so I will not post those, per request. At least when I am working on that, I am tatting.
    I am going to cover a Christmas ball. As I was working it, I thought I would make a split chain to jump out of a round. Well, I do them so often (he says facetiously) that I had to look it up, so I went to my favorite source, the Eborall University of Tatting library.
    In the library, under split chains, I see "Fast and Easy". Sounds like a winner to me. I tried it. It WORKED!!. Then I notice it is a method that was figured out by Marie Smith. Dear Marie. Next time I see her at a meeting, I have to thank her for this. I think it simplifies the split chain so much. It  really is an easier method.

You can see my first attempts at it with this method worked fine. I do have one stitch that I did not pull tight enough, but that is minor. I love this way of doing it. I think I owe Marie some chocolates.