Indiana Recovery and Projects

I have recovered, mostly, from the long drive to Chesterfield, IN for Tatting Corner's 2nd Annual Tat Days. Lisa and Kaye did a fantastic job organizing. I enjoyed all my classes and have finished the projects associated with four of the six (pictures below). Now to start on the two that I accomplished least in class.

First, is the Kaye Judt's Treble-Tatted Trillium using Lizbeth 20. I inadvertently picked a darker yellow for the last round but it looks okay, I think. The center is 691 (Mocha Brown Med) and the petals are 616 Daffodil Med. I think that the outside turned to be 613 Golden Yellow Med. The Trillium turned out to be about 3" (~7.5 cm) in diameter but it is large enough to see where the treble stitches form an edging. Reminds me of the picot edging I have on several of my hand-knitted socks. Altogether this was a very nice class. There was another tatter there, Dorcas, who had been tatting for sixty-six (66) years! She's a little bit of woman but full of fun and knowledge. It was a real pleasure to sit near her.

The picture on the left is Randy Houtz' Bauble Hedgehog but I did this in a Size 3 Lizbeth thread (691 Mocha Brown Med). Since I'm not used to tatting with 'rope,' there are numerous issues with tension. But it's okay. The hedgehog shown is a little over 3" (~7.5 cm) long and stands nearly 2" (~5 cm) high. My other excuse is a larger shuttle than I normally use but again, it's just an excuse. Really enjoyed meeting so many tatters from the mid-western USA area. I look forward to seeing some at Palmetto Tatters 17th Tat Days September 5-8.

The next series of challenges but fun was the set of keys to "Unlock Your Wild Side" by Carollyn Brown.

 These were fun to do although the Taj Mahal (Design by Margaret Davies) was a bit of a challenge. Some of the instructions were accidentally left off and the picture wasn't clear enough as it wasn't straight on but rather at an angle from a flat surface. I know that both Carollyn and Margaret were tired of my queries but my interpretation is shown on the right. Key to Happiness (left) is a lovely monochromatic study using size 20 thread. I hadn't tatted with size 80 in a long time and it was strange after finishing the hedgehog to switch from a 3 to an 80! The thread Carollyn furnished in the kit was a very light green to white colorway along with lime green seed beads. It doesn't show up very well on the dark background but does catch light and sparkle. The Taj Mahal key is done in Lizbeth 40 (637 Country Grape Med) and still requires blocking for the best presentation. We planning to use the keys as ornaments on our Christmas tree this year and in the future. Carollyn is working on some new patterns and has shared those pictures with me ... Looks like I'll be buying more patterns and keys!!

Off to start on Shelley Perraeault's Spiral Galaxy Ice Drop. I tried it three times in class and it just wouldn't work with this old, tired brain that day. Perhaps I need to tat one (at least) of Jane Eborall's No.3 Brain cell. It will actually be my first ice drop although I am a member of the Ice Drop Addicts group on FB.

I actually have more done (nearly the entire back) of K. Boniface's Very Wild 3D Giraffe. Working in size 10 is not my favorite but it such a cute pattern. Will have to make a trip to the florists' in town (or perhaps a craft store in Bozeman) for pom-poms and chenilles (aka pipe cleaners). I may even try stuffing with felt as Carolyn Craig has done.

July is here!

Summer has only been here for a couple of weeks (by the calendar) but I feel as though it is flying by! Heading east next week to Indiana for Tatting Corner's 2nd Tat Days. I have some interesting classes scheduled from Carollyn Brown, K Boniface, Shelley Perreault, Kaye Judt and the irascible Randy Houtz.

Registration for Palmetto Tatters Guild 2019 Tat Days is well underway. This is the 17th annual event that PTG has hosted and the tenth year for the location near Toccoa, GA. It's a lovely location with a lake just outside the dining hall. The staff at GBCC is always courteous and so helpful. We have 93 registered after only 3 weeks; on-line registration will remain open until midnight August 10. Lots of surprises this year including a purple shirt, a really cute shuttle from Shuttles by Design and a special commemorative ... a pattern media for the first three years (2003, 2004 & 2005) ... never available previously!

I've spent some of this time making up zipper pulls for the staff at Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp where Camp WannaTat has continued since the passing of Bobbie Demmer. They are such a wonderful group of folks and work so very hard.

The zipper pull is made as Gary Houtz' variation on Patti Duff's lanyard pattern. With the exception of the first and last rings, all others are SCMRs with the bead placed onto the core loop BEFORE posting the shuttle through the loop and drawing the SCMR closed.

I love making lanyards this way as I can use two colors, one on each shuttle, and don't have to worry about counting/loading the beads before I start tatting. I also used two different kinds of beads. Hard to see here, but the pearl beads have a facet cut (size 8) and the reddish beads are size 6; the charm is one I found at Fire Mountain and thought appropriate for the recipients. The colorway is Lizbeth 154 (Wildflower Garden).


I've also been playing around with a ball of Altin Basak and Mary Konior's Curds 'n Whey (one of my favorite edging patterns). While the thread isn't exactly my favorite, I think it will work into an insertion. I can't believe that the colors are matching up as well as they are.

I worked on this the other day while DH was fishing in Yellowstone National Park. One of the park rangers told him that he had a BIG, BIG brown bear watching him. The bear was about 30 feet above him on a bluff while RLW was on the far side of the Madison River below the campground. I had seen the bear earlier and he was really big. I could see him a quarter of a mile away WITHOUT my field glasses.