Bat on a Green Moon...

Inspired by Fox and Jon's stalwart efforts with the mystery doily, I picked mine up again and just completed the third round.  I need to do some catching up, the gals are way ahead of me!

I have not pressed it and the third round does frill a bit so that's why there is a slight overlap at one spot.  I just squashed it under the lid of my scanner.  I think the frilling will resolve itself with the fourth round anyway.

As it is the spooky season, I tatted Marty's bat to decorate my mat.

I went a tad wrong on the wings

(missed a couple of stitches in the centre segment)

but it's still looking pretty good.

Nice pattern.

Best wishes,

Frivole

Renulek's Medallions... and Crab Apples!

I saw a motif I liked on Pinterest.  Following the links took me to Renulek's website where I found a series of these made with the same centre.  Nice designs!  One of them particularly appealed to me and I set to making it.  But I counted from the wrong image and ended with 5 instead of the 7 picots I needed to complete the third round.  So I made the other motif first and then the one I really wanted to make second.

They are both really pretty,

but this second one is the one I liked best

I like everything about this one!

I also took photos before I pressed them as I thought they looked appealing with their edges slightly curled up... they reminded me of water lilies floating peacefully on a pond...

And finally, a bit more on autumn's gifts.  Look at those gorgeous red gems!  So beautiful.  Mother-in-law brought me a bag of crab apples a couple of days ago... would I make some jelly please?

Of course!

This was my first time making this beautiful jelly and I was amazed at how red those crab apples were.  They made a gorgeous colourful jelly.  I lit the jars from behind a bit so you could see the colour.  It only made five jars...  I wish there was more now because it is not only beautiful, but delicious!

Best wishes,

Frivole

First Snowflake...

Not in the sky yet!  But I wanted a snowflake to include in a letter to a friend so this is the first one of the year for me.

It's from the book "Festive Tatting" by DMC.  

It has a nice shape and is tatted in one round.

Perfect.

How about you, are you getting into Christmas tatting already?  I must admit I usually don't like to think of the "C" word until November really so this is a bit early for me!  But then of course, it means I run out of time.  Oh well...

Best wishes,

Frivole

Edging, Doily, and Gifts

I've been busy with other stuff lately and not done so much tatting.  But I kept going on the Fleurette edging which is just about done and the third round of the Mystery Doily which is also about done.

Also...

A little while ago, God's Kid was showing some great Dream Catcher earrings on her blog.  I really fancied a pair... so we did an exchange!  She was wonderful though and sent even more than what we'd agreed so my daughters could have a dream catcher too.  I love those little feathers.  Isn't it a great design?

Thank you Sue!

And finally, I've been exchanging messages with J. who showed this great 3-D Christmas tree on her blog.  I really liked the look of it so she very kindly enabled me to get the pattern from the designer, Edith Roesti.  And then because I was struggling with the pattern, in German, and figuring out how the tree was put together, she sent me one she made in the post!  Isn't it great?  It's got a wooden piece inserted in the base so that it can stand up on its own.

Now I can examine it and hopefully make my own very soon.

I think it's pretty cool with its snow-laden branches.

Best wishes,

Frivole

Violin Scarf

A little while ago, my mother-in-law asked me to make her a "scarf" for when she plays the violin.  It's not to wrap around her neck but just to put on her shoulder and collar bone where she wrests her instrument as she plays.

She just wanted the piece of fabric made into a rectangle and sewn up the sides...  but could I really just give her back a plain black scarf, unadorned??  Of course not.  This was perfect for some black lace which I think looks really elegant.

Here it is:

I used a few repeats of the lace for a collar pattern in Jan Stawasz's second book, "Tatted Treasures", the one one page 74.  I was looking for something reasonably wide and this fit the bit perfectly.

If I was doing it again, I would probably omit the little flower down the side of the lace but I decided it didn't bother me enough to start over again.  I'm happy with the rest of the lace.

Best wishes,

Frivole