Autumn Leaves

We are having a glorious few days at the moment, with warmer weather and sunshine.  Yarnplayer's leaf inspired me to get my other leaves out and so I re-tatted my own patterns too and created a selection in various colours.

The threads used are Lizbeth in "Leafy Greens" and "Autumn Spice",

Yarnplayer's "Sugar Maple" and Krystledawn's "Sea Glass".

Best wishes,

Yarnplayer's Maple Leaf

I love the colours of autumn.  And at this time of year, I must admit that I miss my native Canada and the beautifully coloured maple leaves.  So when I saw Yarnplayer's new pattern, of course I had to make it!

So here it is, tatted in Lizbeth 20 "Autumn Spice".

Clever how the beads provide the look of the pointy blade tips

that are typical of the maple leaf.

Again, wasn't able to show the prettiness of the beads,

those bright, orangey-red seed beads really sparkle in the light.

Do I need a new camera?

Or a better photographer!

Best wishes,

Starry Starry Night...

I was inspired to re-do the five-point motif.  I made the picots longer and even added beads!

Tried this photo at an angle as we couldn't see the beads
in the first photo.  They're still hard to see!

In the centre ring and between the small rings on the outer edge...
Can you see them?

They sparkle nicely in the sunshine but couldn't capture it with my camera!

Adding a couple more photos... still trying to capture the sparkle!

This fuzzy one is probably the best at actually showing the beads!

Nope, not great, I give up.

You have to imagine how lovely and sparkly the beads are!

And in fact, if I do it again (might do to put in my Christmas cards),

I would put even more beads on this one, threading them first to be

able to add them in more places.

Best wishes,

And Another...

A third motif from Susanne Schwenke's book.  Again requiring a fair amount of thinking!  If I were to make it again, I would make my picots a bit longer.  I tend to make them quite small as a habit (I think when you keep them short, they keep their shape and also withstand washing better) but I think this particular design would have benefitted from longer picots.

I also took another photo of the green snowflake

as I wasn't happy with the previous one.

Here it is on a light background instead of a dark like in the previous post.

Really like this one and have just noticed the little star that

appears in the very middle.

Best wishes,

Brain Gymnastics Anyone?

Couldn't leave it alone, had to have a go at another motif from Susanne Schwenke's book.  But this one really tested my powers of concentration!  It's the way the tiny chains curve in opposite directions whilst some of the trefoils are not made all with the same shuttle which kept confusing me.  Good thing there is a diagram as well as a photo to refer to.

Had to start twice but once I got the hang of it,

I enjoyed making this lovely snowflake which is done in one pass.

Mmmmm... looking at it, I'm thinking this would look nice repeated...

I think the negative space between the centre and the petals is very attractive.

And the space that would be created by joining motifs on the

corner would be interesting too me thinks...

Now I've got to stop playing... and go to work!

Update on Michelle's hanky:  I found the tatting (about a quarter done) but still can't find the hanky itself which I thought would have been with the tatting.  This is a mystery...  which I hope to elucidate soon!

Have a great day everyone.

Best wishes,

Susanne Schwenke - Spitzen Kreationen

Thanks Fox for bringing Susanne Schwenke's little book to my attention, it arrived this morning and I'm very glad I purchased it.  Here is the first motif I have made from the book:

I like it but regret having done the centre in a darker colour.

Also, she must make her chains a bit looser than I do because the "petals" were

a bit tight and would have benefitted from a few extra stitches.

Here is a photo of the book, I will be making a few more things from it 

in the near future.  In fact I know where my Christmas snowflakes 

will come from this year!

On another note, I have an admission to make...  One that is upsetting me at the moment...  Remember Michelle's beautiful handkerchief?  Well, Creativa asked me how I was getting on with it and so I went in search of it (where I thought I had left it) and I can't find it!!!  That's what I get for taking my tatting with me everywhere.  I'm sure it is safe somewhere but I can't locate it just now.  So please send me some magic-hanky-re-appearing-vibes so that it turns up soon!  It's too beautiful and I wanted to continue work on it now that I have finished the one from Diane.  Thank you.

Best wishes,

Lace-Lovin' Handkerchief

Some of you will remember when I posted about Diane's kind gift of one of her beautiful hankies.  The bold colours in this one really appealed to me and made me think of Spain, sunshine and flowers in terracotta pots.  I started working on a border for it towards the end of our holiday and here it is completed.

Handkerchief border tatted in Lizbeth 20 (Country Turquoise Med.)
and Lizbeth 40 for the yellow.

I started with "Marguerite" by Mary Konior but as I was working along, I felt that it didn't look quite right with just the blue... there was something missing.  So I experimented with adding the yellow below the blue which ended up working out well.  So this is an inverted border:  I didn't start with the yellow and then attached the blue on the outside, instead I started with the blue and added the yellow on the inside of the border.  I'm sure you'll agree from the picture below, that the yellow really contributes to making the border "pop", just the blue would have been a little dull in my opinion.

And here is a close-up...

I like the look of the three little yellow rings to turn the corner.

Just the lace before attaching it.

So I hope my friend Diane will be pleased with how I decorated her hanky and I'd like to thank her again for her gift.

Best wishes,

Frivolité de Corinne

I like Fox's version of Corinne's challenge... so I thought I would join in the fun.  Here is mine.

Best wishes,

Cup Winner!

Do you remember earlier in the summer when I said that my Mother-in-Law had suggested I enter our Village Fête competition with one of my doilies?

Well, I was away for the Fête so didn't get to see my entry amongst the others but I was delighted upon my return to learn that not only had I won first prize in my category, but was also awarded the Rose Bowl which is for The Best Exhibit in the Overall Domestic Section!  I even get to have my name engraved on the cup.

I'm chuffed.

I may even have to enter again next year....

Well, someone needs to promote the merits of tatting in my neck of the woods!

Best wishes,

Small Yellow Doily

Whilst on holiday, my father was admiring some of my tatting and then exclaimed how he would like a doily for the little table in his entrance hall.  So of course, I could only but oblige!  He picked the colour and I chose the design.

Many of you will recognise Mary Konior's Patchwork.  This is an easy design that is a pleasure to tat.  But I felt I wanted to make some sort of edging to it...  Looking through my tatting patterns, I noticed how much one of Jan Stawasz's doily sets was similar to patchwork (this is the doily set on p.75 of his book).  Sure enough, it needed barely any adjusting at all to make a nice edging for my patchwork doily.

Doily tatted in Lizbeth size 40

I'm very pleased with how this has worked out.
And it's now ready to be mailed to my father.

Hope he likes it too.

Best wishes,

New Video

There was a discussion started over at In Tatters about how to close a motif when you have to join the first ring to the last one in a round.  I know there are a few videos available already but as I tried to explain how I did it with words, it seemed very hard to explain clearly.  So I thought I'd make a second video.

This is a technique that many will be familiar with but I personally always find it helpful to see things being done "live", so I hope it's of use to some of you.

Clicking on the picture will take you to the Youtube video.
I removed the embedded version as it was smaller and the annotations
were not appearing when viewing the video.

Best wishes,

Wonderful Summer

Seems like forever since I last posted!  What a lovely summer.  Weather wasn't perfect but the holiday was very relaxing and enjoyable.

I didn't tat quite as much as expected (due to some very good books!) but I still have a few things to show you.

I was given a big bag of lavender by a lady in Paris so of course, I had to make some sachets.  Here are a few of them.  My favourite so far being the blue and green one.  But I have lots of flowers left so will be making some more.

The lady at my local wool shop in France once showed me how she'd made little pin cushions out of milk caps...  I was inspired to make some myself.  I also put some lavender in with the filling so the flower pin cushions not only look pretty, but smell nice too!

I also started work on a handkerchief and completed a small doily which I will show you in the next post.  Now I need to go unpack and get organised a bit!

Hope you all had a great summer too.  Look forward to catching up on everyone's tatting while I was away.

Best wishes,