Pendant Progress

While we have been busy with the holiday preparations, I have snuck in a few minutes of tatting time.  The "Romance" New Year pendant is coming along:

Still have a couple more outer chain rounds to go.

And I have been putting the finishing touches to some crocheted Christmas gifts, so my hands have been working overtime!

Speaking of hands- I found something at my local Walgreen's last week and LOVE it!

I have been using this on my hands and it has helped so much!  As you can imagine, my hands take a lot of abuse.  Working with thread, fabric, yarn, pine needles and such dries out and roughens the hands.  Many lotions and hand creams are way too greasy for my taste, but the Carmex is creamy and quickly absorbed with very little residue.  Walgreen's carries the  "Healing Cream" & "Healing Lotion" and I'm sure other pharmacies carry it, too.  Another plus is the scent- it is light and fresh, just like the Carmex lip balm.

 I have not forgotten about the Christmas doily counts.  They will be up before Christmas!  Jim will be home shortly and I've not even started supper.  I'd better get to cookin'!  Until tomorrow~

Happy Tatting!



Busy, Busy

As you can imagine, this is a very busy time of year.  Jocelin and I have been taking care of last minute details today and I've not had the time to get the counts for the final two rounds of the Christmas doily up.  They will be posted later this week- as soon as I have the chance to sit down for a while and figure out how to explain the final round.

The overwhelming result for what my dear readers would like for the New Year Giveaway is a "Romance" pendant.  I have started work on it already.  Shall I give you a sneak peek?

It is being tatted with Valdani pearl cotton and is accented with Swarovski crystals and Czech seed beads.  The finished piece will be up later in the week.

Here is another piece of eye candy.

This is Bev's (my mother-in-law) pendant.  I tatted it with Valdani Luxury Pearl Silk and accented it with Swarovski crystal bicones and center disc, and threw in a few antique Czech seed beads that were painstakingly picked off of a Victorian beaded bag for good measure.  I hope she enjoys wearing it as these colors are so pretty on her.

Well, Jocie and I have some Christmas cooking and baking to do so I had better get to it.  My posts this week may be erratic as we are in the midst of Christmas activities and celebrations.  Until later~

Happy Tatting!



Piney Woods Christmas Doily, Part Four

Round four is easy.  I do not have a good, clear image of the complete round as it was getting dark when I tried to take pictures of it.  I will try to tweak and brighten the images later this weekend.  Maybe I can get one of them to look decent enough to post.  At least I did take a few of the round in progress.

The counts for this round are:

R 13 + 13 CL RW

CH 7 - 7 followed by 5 graduated picots 7 - 7 CL RW

Continue around motif, join last CH to base of first R.  Tie & cut, hide ends.

Round five will be featured Monday.

Okay, I need your input, dear readers. 

 I am planning a special New Year Giveaway.  What would you prefer:  thread or a tatted pendant from my upcoming "Romance of the Piney Woods" collection?  I will put up a poll to the right of the blog.  Please vote on this no later than Monday morning as I will be announcing the event with the daily blogpost.  Thanks!

Well, I have simply got to go & get busy wrapping up Jocelin's little stocking stuffers and such as she is out for the Christmas break this afternoon.  It's my last chance to wrap things without the chance of being "caught"!  May you have a wonderful weekend doing whatever makes your soul sing!

Until next week~

Happy Tatting!



Piney Woods Christmas Doily, Part Three

The third round is worked with a size 7 tatting needle and Valdani size 8 pearl cotton in M26.

This is a simple round to tat as it is all chain work.  Thread needle and run it through the top bar of the 3rd ds to the left of any previously tatted floating ring and CH 11 followed by 5 graduated picots (sm, med, lg, med, sm) 11 CL + to top bar of 3rd ds to the right of the floating ring.  Next you will CH 7 - 7 CL + to the top bar of the 3rd ds to the left of the next floating ring.  Continue with these counts around the doily.  After tatting the last CH, run needle through the base of the first CH tatted and pull threads to back of work.  Tie & cut, hide ends. 

I have good news- I found the image of the complete second round.  It was just labeled differently and I did not look in the right place yesterday.  Here it is:

Stay tuned tomorrow for round four!

I am busy baking a huge ham today and tatting a few little last minute motifs for gift toppers.  Guess I had better get back to it.  Until tomorrow~

Happy Tatting!



Piney Woods Christmas Doily, Part Two

Well, I could have sworn I had taken an image of the complete second round, but guess I must have accidentally deleted it or somehow hidden it from myself.  At least I have an image of the second round in progress!

To tat this round I used 2 size 7 tatting needles and Valdani size 8 pearl cotton in M41.  Thread one tating needle and work off the ball for the first R.

  R 7 + ( to smallest - of previously tatted CH of foundation) 3 very sm. - 3 + (to the smallest - of next previously tatted CH of foundation) 7 CL RW

Now, here is the tricky part- guestimating how much thread to pull off of the ball before you thread the second needle on the other end.  This is what I did:  I pulled 12 armlengths of thread off the ball and ended up having just enough to complete the second round.

Thread the second needle before tatting the CH.

CH 11 , with 2nd needle you will now tat a floating ring with the counts R 7 s- m- s- 7 CL. Continue tatting using 1st needle, CH 11 CL RW.

(HELPFUL HINT:  to tat the floating ring, place the stitches on the 2nd needle using the working thread as close to the stitches on the 1st needle as possible.  I am sure there are video & pictoral tutorials on the web if you need help with this technique.  Check Intatters and Georgia Seitz's Online Tatting Class.)

You will tat a series of 12 Rs and CHs for this round.  After tatting the last CH + to base of first R tatted, tie & cut, hide ends.

Stay tuned for part three tomorrow!

And also, be on the look out later in the week for a special "New Year Event".  I've got something special planned to ring in the New Year for my fellow tatting afficianados

Guess I had better check on the cookies in the oven.  They smell about ready.  Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are my favorite!

Have a wonderful day.  Until tomorrow~

Happy Tatting!

Piney Woods Christmas Doily, Part One

I tatted a Christmas doily this weekend while camping in the Piney Woods.  Over the next few days, I will post images and counts for your Christmas tatting pleasure.

You will need a size 7 tatting needle and 1 ball each of Valdani size 8 pearl cotton in colors M43 & M41 for the foundation motif.

Using M43 and working off the ball, tat a motif of 12 Rs & CHs with the following counts:

R 5-5 (3 graduated picots, sm, med, sm) 5-5 CL RW

CH 7 (5 graduated picots, sm, med, lg, med, sm) 7 CL RW

R 5+5 (3 graduated picots) 5-5 CL RW

Continue tatting for a total of 12 Rs & CHs. Join last CH to base of 1st R, tie & cut, hide ends.

Now, onto the "accent tatting" round:

Using M41 and working off the ball, thread needle and run needle through joining - of any previously tatted R.  Tat as follows around motif:

CH 12 CL + to next joining picot.  At last CH, tie & cut, hide ends.

Round two will be featured on tomorrow's post. 

Have you done all of your Christmas shopping?  I am mostly through, although I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of a few items.  A store owner friend of mine had to special order a little something or two for my husband.  I hope it all arrives in time!

Well, I am off to the kitchen to bake more edible Christmas goodies.  Have a great day & until tomorrow~

Happy Tatting!



Camping

How do you take your tatting with you when you travel or go camping?  Pictured below is how I pack my tatting for a weekend in the Piney Woods:

This is a small Plano brand tackle box purchased at Academy Sports a few years back.  It was very inexpensive, yet it is just perfect for hauling tatting necessities for a short camping trip.  As you can see, it holds everything I need and then some.

Here is a view of the tray with thread, scissors, chatelaine, beads, emery cushion, beads, pearls, buttons and findings.

This box is small and just right when space is at a premium.

I will share my portable atelier with you another time.  It is rather large, but suits my needs for extended trips or for when I'm working on many projects at once.

We had a wonderful weekend camping in the Piney Woods!

After 18+ years, our trusty family tent officially died a few weeks back.  We have since replaced it with a new cabin tent and had to take it for a "test camp" on the back acreage.

The new tent has much more headroom (which my tall husband is thrilled with) and is easier and faster to put up than our old 2 room dome tent.  We are VERY pleased with our purchase.

The remaining blog posts this week will feature what I tatted in the woods this weekend along with the free pattern.  Hope you had as wonderful a weekend as we did!  Until tomorrow~

Happy Tatting!