FINALLY some tatting

 Well well well. I'm back. I have two general tatting photos...some heart earrings i made my daughter Anavay...i love the way they came out. The pattern is

Tiny Heart pattern 
CWJ = cathrine wheel join.
TOR = thrown off ring (thank you for spotting rsme ;) )
R : 4-3-3-3-4
CH : 12 CWJ 3 CWJ 1 TOR (1-1) 1 CWJ 3 CWL 12 join to base and sew in ends. 
I tat earrings really tight so they hold their shape under kid circumstances. Showers, sleep, and play. These go great with all that....AND still looks like they did when i first tatted them.

 The cross is from Fun with split ring tatting. THIS is an awesome book. I got it by saving up my SWAGBUCKS... so technically it was free. Now comes my ring...

I still couldn't get inkscape to co-operate with me...so i desired to just post the directions here...sorry i don't have a PDF. i will keep plugging on trying to find a solution...but i am not going to promise something i can't.

gosh darn blogger is giving me trouble...i hate it! Anyway here's the text

PART 1

PART 2

Diamond Ring by Shannon Campos-Hatfield

This pattern is a bit advanced... you will be joining into a ring shape, throwing off rings and a split ring.
Also the basic pattern is for fat little fingers. There can be variations in size and they will be added at the end...but originally this ring will come out large.
Also all picots are small-ish...except for the ones that say otherwise.

KEY:
LP = Long picot-just under 1/4 inch
SPR = split ring
TOR = thrown off ring

Clover 1: R1 6-3-6-3
                R2 3+23-3
                R3 3+6-3-6

CLOVER 2: R1 6-3-6-3
                     R2 3+9-5-9-3
                     R3 3+6-3-6
Chain 1:ch 7 TOR (4-4-4-4) 7
CHAIN 2: ch 7 + (to TOR) 7
 
PART1
Start with CTM...
Clover 1
Chain1
Clover 2
Chain 2
Clover 1
Chain 2
Clover 2
Chain 2
Tie to the base of the 1st clover. Hide ends by sewing the end through 3 ds caps.

PART 2
R1 3 LP 9 +(to clover 2) 5 +(to clover 2) 9 LP 3
SPR 3+11 LP 3/ 3+11 LP 3
R3 3 +(to LP) 9 +(to clover 2) 5 +(to clover 2) 9 +(to LP) 3

If you get lost i can help...but the pattern is pretty straight forward.

also it could have three other sizes...i actually have that pdf...Ring Part 2 (sizes) (insert evil laugh here...muah haha haha muah haha) at least i have SOME part organized.

FRUSTRATION MUCH???

So tonight i tatted a ring...a very nice ring...Then began the problems...

My camera ran out of juice...the very minute i went to take a photo of it....

Then, I figured that i would do out the pattern...all nice like in inkscape...you know... have a nice visual...but then inkscape REFUSED to save it...i eventually closed it...I had copied it and pasted it into paint...but it didn't have very nice results... So after spending 2 and a half hours on this frustrating project... I am WAY calling quits! 

I will try to fix the picture visual tomorrow... but until then..I'm going to try to relax.

In other news...my two boys are in first grade...YAY!!! It is so much better than kindergarten...Ana is still in preschool until next year...then kindergarten here we come. 

I am being pushed lately by my husband to get my tatting up for a craft fair or something...everyone has such faith in me, but i have very little in myself...even though i know i am awesome...i am just super shy about my tatting. Like i said... camera died...so i haven't got a whole bunch of tatting photos...so later :)

But the whole point of this post was to tell you that i am going to have a new free pattern up...soon-ish :)

woe is me.

Dear blogging friends...i need some help,

i need to know how to get over missing my kids so much. 

Last year when they went to kindergarten, it really wasn't so hard...it was only 4 hours after all. But now i am having some SEVERE heartbreak. My kids leave at 7:30 am and go to school 'till 2, then they are wanting to go to boys and girls club...'TIL 6pm! Its only been 2 days but i have been so sad. Will it go away or just get worse. And then on top of it...when they get home they want to immediately go outside to play. I feel so...so...childless. I wasn't expecting to feel this until they hit teens...but here it is..first grade. Please tell me that it gets better. 

On to tatting stuffs. I have been tatting a little bit...i did jon's fold over bookmark, and a tiny cross...and yet no photos...I have been into sewing of late. I made my boys a pencil pouch out of clear vinyl...if you have never sewn with vinyl, your missing out...because it...is...fun. I found a helpful hint online...place tape (scotch) on the needle plate beside the feed dogs, and on the actual foot...it was a blast! I also made their bags for school. Atreyu wants a pink satin pocket and azriel wants a spider man logo...right now i am looking through my window and I see them playing ball tag...its hilarious. Any way... i am also hoping to make a pair of pants for myself, my friend Marie gave me some nice tweed material... but i am fat so it might just be some capris ;) 

On top of that... i have been playing with hexagons...Now this story is a must, because i read all sorts of blogs, and i came across a couple that sounded mental...saying things like i love hexagons, hexagons are the best, my world is hexagons...so i decided to learn how to do hexagons...they thing that perplexed me, was the template... when and how does it come out...i found that it does come out. after you sew up the ones around the central one...you can take it out. i LOVE LOVE LOVE sewing these... i am not a hand sewer at all... i hate it and avoid it like the plague...but i love doing these little things... so i am going through my scraps and just randomly putting them together...ok. so actually i gotta run, because Marie is looking for some help...So toodles!

A quick update.

Uck. Well. I was tatting a bit, a while ago. I haven't taken pictures. But. I wanted to touch on just a little tatting talk. Well I really wanted this book --> Fun with split ring tatting. I really didn't want to spend our money, since money has been tight. So i went and utilized Swagbucks.  I finally got enough amazon gift cards to buy it off amazon. SO HAPPY. i can't wait to get it.

The last two days i have been doing my BOM. For all those tatters who don't know...BOM means Block of the month. The one i am participating in is on Canton Village. link...button...is going to be in the side. those are my blocks. Well I would go on but the Olympics are one,and well i like the Olympics, and i have yet another headache, so imma go. I'll check in with my tatting works, probably tomorrow. So good night to all you guys, and who ever reads me.

My version of a pop flower.

Well. I have been wanting a gooey, girly, cartoony flower. and all the flowers that i have seen really didn't fit the bill. So i tried making my own. This is my "Pop Flower"

Pop Flower Pattern. (can be worked with 5 or 6 petals)

R  40 ds. thats right no picots in this pattern
Ch 20 join to ring... (how you ask...you literally join to the ring. its a shuttle join, and you pretend as if
                                the ring is a picot itself!)
Ch 20+20+20+20+(stop here if only doing 5 petals) 20+ (you can bury your ends at this point and have
                                 just a flower...or you can continue for a stem.)
zig zag chain in 5's. so 5 ds flipped, 5 ds UNFLIPPED
Do that for however long you want your stem.

Now you could go bigger and do a SCMR for the center ring, or make more petals. or less petals...but the real effect is on the backside. thats where the flower gets its look. The photo is of the backside. and that is the right side to show people...or animals...or....whatever. So Have fun.

hmmm. Well. my life has been pretty...boring. The kids got out of school last week. I have been battling a headache for just as long. Finally its starting to ease up, after drinking a ton of OJ, and taking headache meds. Hopefully i can keep it at bay for a couple days. It sounds weird, but i like my headaches...they make me thankful for the days i don't have then. I love being grateful. So. I haven't seen my sister, so I don't know how her tatting is going, but I have been tatting a bit. I have been tatting a necklace. Its suppose to be a necklace, or edging...but i think its going to be a necklace. Its fleur de lis. its a really nice pattern. I also ordered Julie Pattersons books...i think i told you all that last time. well i was flipping through and i found this center of a cross. it was just too cool to pass up.

Some tatters stray away from crosses because of personal beliefs but. you can take a cross and dissect it. the long arm can be extended for an edging, bracelet or necklace. The arms can be shortened to become a motif. Crosses can also inspire. Personally i don't think you should limit your self. Especially if your an artist. You could be missing out. But...anyway.

 I think i told you. i love orange. this is a great color orange. and thats girly girl...i have a confession. I found out that i really don't like variegated threads. its weird. I have tried a bit of variegated but i just really am a solids kind of girl. I was even the one who sent in the suggestion for this colorway. I love seeing it on the ball. but i don't like tatting with it. Here is another example...Caribbean. I love the colors but i get tired of the going back and forth...and its so weird. But that is a bookmark.Next up is a bracelet i made my mom for mothers day. I think its just soooo pretty.

ok. so i think that's all for updates...TTYL!

What i have been up to.

Well. As of right now my two boys have no more homework from school. I am a mean mom, so i need to make that difference shown, they are gonna learn during the summer. Practice is important to me. So we are going to work on reading, and math, and writing. not a lot but enough to keep them sharp. I have been tatting!

On the tatting front. I taught my sister to tat. I was so proud of her. Honestly she hasn't tried so hard on something for so long. The last time she made this much of an effort was to read harry potter. I kept telling her how awesome it was, and she wanted so badly to read it too. but alas she couldn't concentrate. But thats ok. So she is now tatting over at her house...my niece is probably confused off her butt...she only sees me tatting. But thats ok too. because tatting is something that sticks with you. So...Tatting. I have been test tatting for Sue over here. I love love love her patterns. I wish i could post a photo of the latest ones, because they are genius. but i can't. And since i have been looking on etsy, i have tried a couple times to mime the tatting on there...FAIL. But thats ok. I bought a set of three books. THEY ARE SO AWESOME. I feel as if her and i were meant to be tatting buddies. She is so totally like me. Shes straight to the point. She has great patterns. She works with her kids. She is just so cool. All of this and i don't even know her. I wish she would do some more books. ok, so the books are Just Making Tome, Knots and Crosses, and More Crosses than you can bear.

Now, if you knew me personally, you would know i am soooo not the most religious person, or spiritual. BUT I do love tatting. And for some strange reason, i have been wanting to make crosses. even before i got my books. So here's a picture i CAN show you. Right this minute, I am also experimenting with my scanner. This was scanned at 600 dpi. I scanned it again at 1200...apparently i can't upload it to here...so i am going to try flickr. I don't know if i can tell the difference. (I tried and it didn't work. poo on that!)

I have also been checking out tatting books at the library. I love tatting, and i love the work put into it. And the people who choose to make a tatting book are good. But occasionally i run across some sloppy tatting. And i know that sounds mean, but if your going to put an effort into compiling patterns and knowledge, and photos of your work...at the very least make sure the tatting looks good... And yes, I know...miss opinionated, if your such an expert, why don't you make a whole book.

I don't know about you, but i love a pattern that sits flat on its own...unless it's supposed  to be 3D. or curled. The patterns are clearly meant to be flat. but it looks like if i tried to tat it, that it would take a lot of fighting with it to get it flat. AND frankly, i am not into fighting. AND thats what i like about the books i bought. They state in the beginning the picot length and tension to be used...ALL just right there. So regardless the tatter, they will get the same result. Its a thing of beauty. I wonder why all tatting authors don't do this. Which is funny. because with the patterns i posted, i don't do that... HOW LAME!

SO do i have anything else to add...no. I don't think so. I am so excited about tat days. I am not going but the pattern cd looks like its going to be good.

Can anyone tell me why my fliggin crosses are all curved??? I think i might need to pin them down for a spell.

Have you ever had a ball of thread that you didn't think much of, but as you are nearing the end, you come to find that its your most used color? Thats the way i felt about the green and pink cross. I bought that color green awhile ago, my reaction was ehh, maybe i will find something to tat with it. And its the color that has gone the quickest! Its really pretty with pink...its very springy.. So now i think thats it...yep. thats it...ok. so...bye.

kudos

Before Easter (i believe) Jess from Tat-ilicious wrote a post about squinkies at McDonalds and how you can use the ball for holding lizbeth thread. WELL i found one better. For Easter i bought each of my kids a large egg...two were full of temporary tattoos, and the other was a tiny Dora ballerina. They are larger than the squinkies, and they hold still. Heres the pictures of my tatting eggs!

a full size 20 ball of lizbeth

So thank you Jess for the great eye opener!

Not really a lesson, but something interesting

I don't think i have expressed how much i like the vance pattern. Its very simple and i could do it for years. this is the basic pattern

vance edging as a bracelet

My boys started getting tutoring which meant 2 hours, three days a week at the library. And so I took tatting and the first pattern that came to mind was vance. So i did 9 repeats cornered went back down the side and finished that corner. Now this is relevent because at the corner, i saw a very pretty thing. The possiblity of a vance motif. The corner is a simple 3 repeat. If i added a fourth it would be a diamond. So i started thinking on how i would make it. These are the ways i came up with.
1. Regular motif, follow the pattern times four.

2.start with split rings then go around with the rest of the pattern

3.split rings with rings thrown off, 2nd round is just chains.

Whats your "go to" pattern. Do you ever think of different ways to mess around with edgings?

later on....

So today the kids have tutoring. I have been planning a blog post about tatting techniques and i think i will get around to it later on today. So in the mean time...happy tatting

Understanding.

Today has been a weird sort of day. I have finally understood something that i have failed to understand. Why are people upset by people dying. Now please understand, i have never had someone really close to me die. So i haven't really understood. I, of course rationalize...they will never see that person again...talk...ect. And i understand its very sorrowful. But it hit me today when i heard that an internet buddy died. I was in shock. Then i checked her blog to see if it was true. the last post was the 4th. It was about a challenge she was going through. stitching. I got really sad. No more blog posts. She will never type again. Her blog is there, but she isn't. Its weird. Then I got to thinking. Well she was in the middle of that challenge. She'll never finish. What happens to her work she has yet to finish. Its sad. She was a wonderful woman, who had a great heart. She helped a lot of people. Sadly enough that it was her death that taught me the compassion for people mourning their loved ones and friends. I appreciate it. I wish it was a lesson that got put off. 

Thank you Gina. For making me a better person.

Happy Valentines day. 

To all, even those who don't celebrate it, i hope you have a bit of love in your lives :)

doing some butterflies

Recently on facebook, Georgia Seitz put out the word for some butterflies. I have  been wanting to send tatting in for the palmetto even for some time. Last year was wonderful. I didn't get to go to palmetto, but there was a chat set up, tatters were trying to break the record for the most tatters tatting at the same time. Needless to say, in a world where you might come across 1 tatter in real life, it was so nice to see so many. To hear their voices...it was wonderful.

So i actually have to go put dinner in the crock, be back in a minute...ok. i'm back. i am making enchilada casserole. its WAY nummy. HERES THE LINK TO IT... anyway.

Butterflies. I have some favorites.

1st. this is a butterfly that is a variation in technique. typically this pattern is done as a SCMR (self closing mock ring.) BUT this one is done with just a single shuttle.

2. Yarn players butterfly. you can also do this with a single shuttle. just by pulling out like a yard of thread and starting your ring there.

3. simple butterfly. basically 4 rings.

4. MY FAVORITE FAVORITE is a pattern that i made. I don't know if i have seen it anywhere but i know one day i just did it. If anyone has seen it somewhere let me know, so i don't feel like a fool for saying that i designed it first. :)

You start with a chain. making sure you put in a paperclip. tat 20ds, then RW and make a ring...3-3+3-3. you join to the paperclip ...keep it there. chain 12 ds LJ to paperclip. chain 12 more. another ring, then finish with another 20 ds. join to the paperclip again. tie  a knot to secure. clip the ends  (antenna)

ch 20 rw
r 3-3+3-3
ch 12 LJ 12
r 3-3+3-3
ch 20.

It is so cute and playful. SO I hope that this inspires you to also send in some butterflies.

Tatting update!

 So, like i said a while ago, my camera is really irritating me. Today is a tatting blog day. I finally got it to import the pictures, so here is some tatting i have been working on....I made an alphabet super simple, I still need to make my H. Further down you will notice a Fleur De Lis-ish pattern. It was an antique one, but it didn't lay nice for me, so i modified it, and i think it's better :)...Ok bloggers layout sucks, description of the photo is gonna be under the pictures :)

Antique fleur de lis, left is original, center is first mod, and third is the final

top part of a tatted hot air balloon

bottom of hot air balloon. stopped here because next row deals with "sets" which i hate

Jane Ebroalls 2004 snowflake

 

I love the center, i thought that it needed a close up.

a flower by jennifer williams

a heart also by jennifer williams, i love this heart!

 

 

So CURRENTLY i am working on a doily from this blog -------> HERE the pattern is through out the blog. such beautiful work!