Yeah! New shuttle and needle case!

And both handmade from Keld Olesen at http://www.orkisskytter.dk/.

The shuttle is made of ivory (oh...these memories - when I was a child, I dreamed of owning a recorder made of ivory but had to settle with box blight; now I finally have a piece of ivory in my hand, even though a somewhat different shape than I imagined then), and it's beautiful. The color, the smooth surface...everything. :D

I'm not quite sure what the needle case is made of, but I suspect it might be beech. And no, before you start thinking so, I have absolutely no clue about wood (too my dad's great dismay, I might add, since the men in his family worked in the woods for generations). Luckily, each shuttle for sale has a little sign, stating the type of wood it's made of (in Danish), and I found a shuttle with a 'beech'-tag that looked a bit like the needle case.

Enough talk. Pics, pics!

<---  /happy sigh.

<--- so pretty! I actually used to fixate a needle in an earplug, but this is much better. \o/

Pics, pics, pics!

This will be a completely new type of post on this blog. No excuses for not getting any tatting done!! Just pics of something that I actually accomplished, the baby bonnet to my friend, who actually gave birth the other day to a little baby girl. :D

 



The bonnet is slightly too big for the doll (my mum's old doll from when she was a little girl), but I needed a model and my son is too big and would probably protest fiercely, if I tried putting a baby bonnet with lavender colored ribbons in it on his head.:P

Update

I have not gone hibernating or anything (though it would be tempting...*glances outside the window*). My son had a huge meltdown because of his school, so we had to find a new school and start him up there, and it's  quite a bit away from here. Luckily things are much better now, so hopefully there will be more time and energy to tat.

The baby cap is nearly done, which is about time. My friend is due in less than 2 weeks, and I doubt I can convince her to keep the little one inside a bit longer, because I have to finish the last rings. :P Hopefully I will have a pic up this weekend.

What have I been up to

It feels like forever since I last posted on this blog. Since last time I've been working on a thingie to put a cell phone in. A floral motif that will be attached to a "leather" purse. I tried to make the motif first, but came to realize that I need to make the purse before it makes sense to tat. WHY, OH WHY do you always have to crawl before you can run a marathon? Needless to say, my cell phone thingie is now in my you-ought-to-do-this-now basket, where it will probably stay for some time, since another exiting thing has happened:

My old friend who has always been a career kinda girl announced that she is pregnant! That ofc. gives me an unique opportunity to foist tatted baby stuff on her. There are so many adorable things to make, and I doubt my 9-year old son will appreciate a tatted collar, so this might be my only chance to tat some baby stuff and actually have someone to give it to. Here is a work in progress pic. of a cap made from a vintage pattern (1940'ies):

I hope I will be done within the next couple of weeks. It's hard to tell on the picture (I think) how much of the work that is actually done, but I actually only need 2 more rows and then 1 round or something like that. Oh, and please note the beautiful picture without red blobs or blurring, all thanks to this thread!! \o/

The pattern is called "Exquisite Baby Cap" and it can be found in "The Tatter's Treasure Chest".

 On a none-tatting related note: I've also been on a summer vacation. Mostly visiting relatives - my son has 6 great grand parents and 4 grandparents that we needed to visit, but we also found time to a trip to Legoland. The best pics from the trip has got to be the view from where we were staying, and a wonderful sign from Legoland. If you do not know the context of the sign, it looks more than just a little weird:

Blergh

I've been working a bit on my new design. Some of it is really good, but other parts are just *sigh*. I know I ought to cut the bad parts away, but I'm not sure what to replace it with, so I keep going and hope things will work out when it all comes together. This also mean that my work mostly spends it time in my crafts basket instead of in my hands. It's not so tempting to use every available moment tatting, when it isn't really going the way you want. :P

Wohoo \o/

I finished my Jan Stawasz-doily! :D But first a small cake-update:
I did manage to do all the cakes I wanted and they all ended up the way I wanted to, except for the green-goo-thingie I wanted to make. The gel-recipe didn't produce the kind of gel I wanted, so I ended up throwing the whole thing out. I did decide, though, that I will find some way to do it. The idea is simply too much fun just to give up on. My brother-in-law really liked the lemon curd, and the orange/ginger diabetes jam I made for my dad were also a succes (the blueberry jam was ALL MINE >:D).

Unfortunately I don't have any pics (for the first time ever), because I was so tired, that I forgot all about it, so you will have to trust me, when I claim that everything was absolutely flawless! :P

And now for the tatting: \o/

As you might have noticed by now, I finished my Jan Stawasz-doily (and no, I haven't pressed yet, I promise I will...at some point :P). It's the biggest piece I've managed to finish, because usually projects of this size ends up in my UFO-basket. I'm really proud of myself now. I actually managed to finish a bigger project!! Who would have thought?!! :D

Especially the last bit was tough to get through, because I already had my thoughts circling around my next projects. Uh, I really can't wait to get started. I hope it works out the way I want it to.

Experiments, experiments

I'm still doing stuff for my son's birthday. On Sunday we will have the closest family over and a couple of his best friends. I will make a chocolate cake (my old recipe but with PioneerWoman's chocolate frosting) and a layered cake with raspberries, Confectioners Cream filling (approx. this recipe) and whipped cream. Oh and some buns ofc. You always need buns and warm cocoa for a Danish birthday.

My brother in law is English so today I tried making some lemon curd for him to put on these buns. I really hope it works out well, since it's nearly impossible to buy here, but I'm not sure I managed to get the right consistency. On the other hand I trust that it will be less runny, when the butter cools off. I also plan to make some blueberry jam, and some sugar free orange / ginger jam for my dad. Wtb. more time.

On the bright side, I've had lots of fun playing with sugar fondant. I've made a horde banner and a replica (well...eh...maybe not a spitting image but to the best of my abilities :P) of a special, epic World of Warcraft weapon. For giggles I tried to make an ooze mold from some Fimo modeling clay. I will try to make a green gel and fill it, so hopefully I will get a wobbling, gross thing to put on the cake as well. :D

<-- An ooze. They really do horrible. :-X If I don't succeed with this experiment, maybe I will try making some other WoW creature, but I'm a bit afraid of the time, and ofc. of being too tired to finish all my little projects.




Oh...and not to forget! I've haven't tatted that much, but my Jan Stawasz' doily is almost done! I only need the last part (about 1/4) of the final round. \o/
I've also made a sketch for a new tatting pattern. It will be a little purse-thingie for my cell phone, or perhaps for some potpourri? Can't wait to test it. And the color is perfect for the yarn, that AnneB was so kind to give to me.

Mmm...how to fit more than a month down to a couple of lines?

I think I will start with the most important first: I met with AnneB and Dantatter! :D They both came to Copenhagen, where I live, and we got a chance to spend some time together. They also showed med a much better way to tat . I am self-taught, as some might have read, and in the books I studied, there wasn't any mentioning of the best way to hold the shuttle when doing the stitches. I've seen youtube-videos, where I could clearly see my method was...eh...not as fast and quite unpractical, but it was too fast for me to learn the trick. BUT NOW I KNOW! \o/

I also got lots of new threads which I look so much forward to test-tat. I just have to finish my current project, because I promised myself I wouldn't produce anymore UFO's (lets see how long that promise will last :P). Uh, yes, and I saw all those wonderful dragons live!! And so many wonderful doilies made by both AnneB and Dantatter. They had them in such smart plastic covers in scrapbooking books, which I will have to get for myself as well. My current storing place is just a big box, but the plastic covers are much more practical.

Apart from that I spend some time going to check-ups on the hospital. Even though I never went to the arctic, some time late in February I found some of my toes started to have a fun color, and apparently it was starting to develop into gangrene and everything else got worse too. :-X So back on Prednisone etc. etc. which mean I've spend a couple of months being extra tired due to sleeplessness, more pains, especially in the hands, and being completely hysterical. I don't know why I go so mental on Prednisone, but well...I do.

What more...Oh...my current project! I started doing a doily from a pattern by Jan Stawasz. It went very well for a looong time (though not as fast because of my hands), but lesson learned: Don't tat when you're extremely tired and are watching Australian Master Chef at the same time, it will only lead to disaster! Disaster, I tell you!!! :'(      <--- me.

The 3. to last round consists completely of even sized rings. 2. to last round has this little motif repeated all the round through, and it's attached to the previous round over 3 rings. Right side of the motif to one ring, the skip one, and then left side attached to a third ring. I was about to finish the whole round, when I realized I had one ring in surplus...I checked, and ofc. I had forgot to skip a ring half way through, and there was absolutely no way to save it. I had to take my scissor out and ruin all my work. /cry.Why do such errors always have to be made in the absolutely worst way with the absolutely worst consequences? If I ever catch one of those fish that gives 3 wishes, one of them will probably be a wish for no more cutting or unraveling in tatting. :P

Easter Egg vs. 2

My Snowdrop Easter Egg vs. 2 finally dried. I do hope we won't get many insects this year, because it's so full of syrup that one should think I spend half a kilo of sugar on it. I didn't! I swear! Only 2 teaspoons. But I guess someone let it soak too much. *whistles*

As you see the version 2 has new leaves! It's very long cluny leaves, and I do like the result a lot. I wish I could have made them longer, but then I need a bigger hand. Or maybe I should try make a loom for it? But on the other hand that would feel a bit like cheating - not using the loom itself (I have joint pains in my hands too), but making something that it wouldn't otherwise be possible to make by hand. Or...I don't know...maybe the means doesn't matter much if you get the result you want? I will have to think a bit about that, I guess. Trying to do philosophy before lunch is always a bad idea. :P

There is no such thing as a failed experiment, only experiments with unexpected outcomes

 No, I did not think that headline out myself, it's a quote from some engineer called something as wonderful as Buckminster Fuller. For this experiment I wanted to do a red flower, I wanted it to be 3D and I wanted it to have voluminous petals. I thought of different ways to achieve this, and came up with several rings, squeezed as thin as possible and then a chain around them. I actually like the design, though I need to do one with 2 rings less, because it almost became too voluminous. It still has to appear dainty, delicate and...well..tatty.

The thread is DMC Cebelia, and it's a much darker red than what it seems to be on the picture (I really need to improve those photo skills). Each petal has 5 rings inside, and the outer chain is pulled just enough to shape the it. I tried fixing each petal to the previous, like the average tatted flower (3 ds, join to previous etc.), but then there wasn't enough room for the petals to fold out (hence the 'I need to do one with 2 rings less'). Then I tried only to have them meet in the bottom of the petal, which kinda works as long as you don't touch it. :P Well...I think it does look pretty but it has to be sewn into place, not to fall apart.

Oh, I also finished my New and Improved Easter Egg. Unfortunately it almost drowned in sugar syrup and it has yet to recover. :(

How impatient can you be?

The syrup is hardly dry, but I never were a patient person. :P Here is the Easter Egg. As you can see, the leaves badly needs to be reworked. I'm not quite sure what to do about them, but I count on my muse to visit me in my dreams tonight.

I still think the stem is ok'ish. The problem with the leaves is that the end of the leaf can't really get that pointy as I want it to be, and as you tat it's very floppy unless you can attach them several places. As you can see I tried attaching the right one (the first I made) twice on the stem, but it just looks bad. I also wanted to have some width in the leaves, but that didn't really work either. Hmm...Oh muse, ascend!

Snowdrop in an egg

The last 2 days I've been working on an Easter Egg with a Snowdrop inside. The border I made, turned out really well, and I think I will use it for a heart later as well - I was almost tempted to make it heartshaped instead of oval, when I did it.

The Snowdrop...hm...the petals were really easy, but the stem and leaves.../sigh. I ended up liking most of the stem and the one leaf, but the other leaf is horrible. I hoped that some sugar syrup would be able to fix it, but I guess even the biggest amount of sugar can't cure bad design.

I could of course cut of the bad leaf and make a nicer looking one, but even though I love sugar in all possible ways, sugar on my fingers doesn't count. :P Anyway...now the whole thing is drying in my kitchen, and I'll post a pic tomorrow, hopefully, horrible leaf or not.

Pattern for the Flower necklace

I was asked to write down the pattern for the Flower necklace, so here it is. I haven't test tatted the pattern yet, so please beware - there might be errors. If you find some, please let me know. I also forgot to add one thing on the pattern: It actually needs 2 X shuttle and 2 X ball thread, there are loads of split rings and a single downwards picot. It sounds worse than it is, though. ^_^

While I wrote down the pattern I had a revelation, that I have to share with you: It's neck-lace!! :o Sorry, I know it's horrible dad-humor (all dads seems to have this huge amount of bad jokes, which we call dad-humor in danish. Maybe it's the same in other languages? Or maybe your dads are just different from ours :P).

The last couple of days I also worked on a new design for a flower, but so far the result is eh...well...lets just say that I will await further inspiration before posting...

ZOMG! I finished a project!!! \o/

I'm so happy. I finally finished a project I've been working on since before Christmas. The observant eye might recognize the central flower. Yes, it is in fact a re-use of the flower from the Red Horror Heart design I made for Sharon's design class. It's needless to say that I quit the Red Horror project, but I did like the flowery thing very much. I just had to come up with some way to use it. I spend quite some time doing different sketches in hand (mainly Art Noveau inspired), but what works on paper doesn't always work when tatted. Thus, I also spend quite some time re-tatting and re-sketching. This is the end result, and I'm very happy with it. :D

A little extra help

I've been working on my son's costume for Fastelavn, which is a Danish holiday we celebrate a bit like the Americans celebrate their Halloween with trick or treat etc, except our costumes don't have to be scary. It used to be the final celebration before the 40 days of fasting, back from when Denmark was Catholic. We stopped being catholic but kept the party. :P

Anyway...My son who is 8 years old decided to be a punk-rocker, and on the picture you can see me sew some 'bracelets' out of fake leather to him. Later I put some studs in them aswell. Ofc. I also made him a nice studded collar, and I cringed a ring from a jewelry lock set up, put some soft thingie on the on end, and now it serves as a nose ring. I guess the days where he wanted to be a cute, cuddly animal is now definitively over. :-S To be sure I would finish in time, Aiko the Empress is giving me a most helpful paw. :P

Spiderbag, spiderbag

My unique photographer skills shows again. :P It's bright daylight outside, but somehow the picture shows up very dark. The fabric has such nice creamy color but here it looks all boring grey. :(

I actually planned for the bag to be a bit bigger, but the edging wasn't as long as I remembered. Actually I did this edging, before I did the choker. As the observant eye might discover, it's actually the same pattern. When I did the edging I liked the look of it against my wrist so much that I decided I would put2 edgings together (opposite) to a bracelet or a choker.  

I had originally planned for the bag to have some kind of handles as well, but when I was almost finished I couldn't really see how I could make any handles look good. I guess it needs a completely different design (or a lot better imagination than mine :P). I tried to put some stiffening material on the lower part of it, and it worked quite well, I think. The lining is black taffeta, and inside I also made a couple of pockets, which could be kinda handy. One of them I made lipstick side, which I thought awfully clever of me, until I realized that I will never carry it on a night out when it has no handles. Duh. Now I guess I can put...pencils and paper clips in it...or something like that. /cry. I really need to figure out those handles.

          

It looks better irl. I swear!

Here is the choker I made some time ago. I've taken close to a billion pictures, the camera I have is all nice and good, but I just can't make the choker look good. For some reason the focus is all wrong, and obviously it can't be my fault, since my Mom always told me that I'm brilliant at everything I do, and as a parent myself, I know moms are NEVER wrong.  :P

The thread was some what thicker than what I usually work with. Ofc. I can't remember the size now, but I like the result. I was wondering if I should tat some more for the front, but tbh I don't  think I will bother. I like it as it is already, and I already have so many other things I want to do (not counting the UFO's that haunt me QQ).

Dantatter's Snowflake and a small update

I had a wonderful Christmas, were we went to visit most of my husband's family. It was quite an endeavor, since his family is really, really huuuuge. New Year's eve we spent at home, alone the three of us, since we were all exhausted after so many days of Christmas lunches. Christmas lunches is a Danish (it's probably the same in all of Scandinavia?) Christmas tradition, which basically consist of eating until you collapse - or almost - together with as much family as possible.

On the journey back and forth, I managed to finish a tatted necklace, I had lying around for ages, but I haven't taken a picture of it yet, so it will get it's very own blog entry later.

 Last night I finished one of Dantatter's design, and I got her permission to post the result. I'm quite happy with it - bear in mind that it hasn't been blocked, ironed or anything, because I'm such an impatient person I haven't had the time yet. :P

The blue yarn is DMC 80, and the golden one is also a DMC, but it doesn't say the size of it on the label. It is, how ever, slightly larger than the blue threat. I had planned to tat it back in December. The star in the middle reminded me of the Star of David, and it also made me think of New Year. Now I'm wondering what I can make of it. Maybe use it as a pendant? Use it as part of a bracelet? I also thought of making lots of them and stitch them to a blue piece of chiffon or some fabric like that to make a scarf, but I don't think I could find the time to do that. Hmm...