More beautiful lace

Although we've been working through our challenge for quite a while, I'm still getting requests to join. Everyone is welcome. Just let me know your blog or web site address and I'll add you to the link list on the right. Every few days I'll check the pages to see what's new and copy some of the pictures to show here. There isn't the space, and I don't have the time to show everything, that's why the links are on the side, so people can see all of your work for themselves. You can join in the fun by either adding a comment below, or sending an email to sharon at gagechek dot com with the address of your blog.

Sharol has taken the Green-Trimmed Daisy Edge from the Big Book of Tatting by Darlene Polachic and worked it around a corner. She has also tatted a Christmas tree from a copy of a photo, but she has no idea where the pattern originates.

Jon is in the process of going back over the designs she created for the challenge and writing out the patterns. Some of them she has had to re-do because the lace has been given away and others she has re-done to tweak the design a little. She is also working on a large square piece made up of 4 large square pieces, several smaller connecting motives and then she wants to add a finishing round. It's looking spectacular.

Kristi doesn't have any tatting to show today, just some rosy cheeked kids in a snow tunnel. Looks like they've been having a lot of fun.

Snowy had a long trip to England and back with lots of time on her hands and she worked on a length of edging that was easy to pick up and work on whenever she didn't need to help navigate. On the return trip she worked on a Mary Konior pattern that was in a back issue of the Ring of Tatters newsletter because the stitch count was easy to memorize.

Sylvia has tatted a doodle in a bangle. It is made from the variegated purple Perfect Quilters thread, combined with the thin peach thread that she used on another motif.

Melissa has needle tatted a round medallion and now has to decide if she wants to use it as a pendant, or use it in her crazy quilt. Make another one and do both!

New Beginnings

Don't you love this yellow butterfly Ruth made? It was supposed to be a butterfly, but it began to be a heart so Ruth just went where it too her.

Sharol has posted a lovely heart too. This one is Heart O' Daisies by Teri Dusenbury.

Marilee is expecting to teach a class of beginners soon and she's come up with some simple pieces they can start with. More Newbies!

Laura's having some trouble getting the spirals tight enough on Ruth's Spiral Heart from the Feb 9th calendar. She took up the challenge to create a heart shape from Carol's Twelve of Hearts motif. The design isn't co-operating. Sounds like she'll need to start over just like Ruth did. It will be beautiful when she finds out what it wants to be.

Eliz has been getting her tatting patterns organized. She's tatted some bookmarks and a Jan Stawasz flower. She's got some more of her UFOs finished and put away and it sounds to me like she's really on a roll. Want to come and do mine next?

Melissa has just learned how to needle tat and she's jumping in with both feet and joining the challenge. After getting her toes wet doing some one ring flowers and butterflies, she did a row of back to back rings and then cleverly ran a ribbon between the rings and added a closure to turn it into a bracelet.

So we have some new designs, some new tatters and some new tatting designers. Who said tatting was a lost art? We're doing everything we can to keep it alive growing and expanding. What other needle art has so many people actively inventing new things to do and new ways of doing it?

Antique magazines, antique shuttles, modern designs

Ruth shows us the cover of an antique Delineator magazine. 1892 is waaayyyy before my time. Check out the covers of this magazine through the ages. It's a real snapshot of changing styles and in some ways changing attitudes. A modern version of one of the designs from the magazine is today's pattern for the Tatting Pattern Calendar.





Gail shares a picture of some of her collection of tatting shuttles. It almost makes me wish I used post style shuttles just so I could collect some of my own. Gail was wondering why the large bone crochet hook screws together in the middle. I'll bet it fit into a smaller case and separated for storage.




Mark completed the motif he was working on and used Photoshop to show a couple of variations on the design.



Eliizabeth adapted a design from Jan Stawasz's book, "Tatting: theory and patterns." to create a wonderful necklace. It is made with a variegated thread called "Silken Pearl" (the flower section) and DMC Cebelia (the stem and leaf section).





Carol has created a sort of "minty" butterfly. She calls this one a Buttermint Monarch and it looks really yummy.

LaRae's Wordless Wednesday post is an ice encrusted branch.

Ceramic Shuttle, Hyacinth, and Eleonora Doily

Wally is in her new apartment but no internet access yet except at the internet café.

Mark has had some surprises in the mail. The book he ordered has finally arrived along with a ceramic shuttle. A ceramic shuttle? What an interesting idea. It's very pretty.

Sharon has been mopping up after the roof leaked. It's OK the threads are dry. She has posted a picture of her latest project, a hyacinth for the newsletter, just in time for spring.

Charlene shares a book she enjoyed reading and notes a recent purchase she made was listed at another bookseller's for considerably less. We've all done that at one time or other.

Marty has completed another of Iris Niebach's "Tatted Doilies" this one is Eleonora done with Coats hand quilting thread in muted tones. She used the central motif of this one to make a bookmark for her niece.

Mae Taylor is the originator of bookmark Sylvia did the other day.

Shamrocks, Presidents and Bears

Ruth has added some Celtic shamrocks to her blog. and promises to share the pattern on the Tatting Pattern Calendar in March.

Gail has been busy knitting up a pair of socks for her daughter.

Clyde was inspired to design a motif using Pearle 12 Hand Dyed Hues thread from New Zealand. He received the thread from Omar in Australia in the thread exchange and liked the thread so much that he placed an order for more of it.
Laura has tatted Carol's 12 of Hearts motif from the Tatting Pattern Calendar in #20 DMC and found that it works up quickly and she wants to do some more.
Martha has done Abe Lincoln, her version of one of Jane Eborall's Tatbead characters.Charlene spent some time today exploring several interesting blogs.
Sylvia has added a lot of eye candy to her web site since the last time I visited it. She has posted pictures of some tatted flowers she did from designs by Jennifer Williams, a floral bookmark I recognize, but can't remember who designed it. If you know please inform Sylvia so she can update her records. She created a simple bookmark using a lovely rusty burgundy corded yard and added a tassel for the end, but her grandson wanted to know why she'd given the teddy bear a tail! Another of the motives she has completed is a variation of a design from a Coates leaflet which she had to modify as the instructions were incomplete and her shuttles weren't co-operating. Finally, she plaited the tail on the Raspberry Sherbet motif done earlier and turned it into a bookmark.

Knitting and Tatting

Gail has posted a picture of some mittens she made out of handspun yarn and notes that she doesn't have the problem with counting stitches in tatting that she does in knitting.

Lynda has done 2 more of her Christmons. The Tatted Rose Heart from Nancy Tracy's be-stitched newsletter for February, and the Star of David from the January 13 Tatting Calendar.
Sharol had plans to design 25 sun motives, but after a break she's thinking of changing her goal and has some new ideas. In the meantime she has posted a lovely pink angel from Eileen Stafford's design tatted in size 5 perle cotton.
Riet has posted a fun picture of her son dressed in his carnival costume.

Donna has been experimenting with knitting and created a nice warm hat to keep the cold out.

Marilee has finally got a join that works the way she wants it to in the bookmark she has created. Doesn't it look scrumptious?

This cold weather is bringing out the knitters. Laura has made a pair of mittens and incorporated some eyelash yarn in the cuffs. They look very cozy.

I missed LaRae's wordless Wednesday and thankful Thursday posts, but today she has posted Jane Eborall's Flowery SCMR Bookmark and notes Jane's imaginative Tatbead family. You must take a look at all of them if you haven't yet. They really are charming in a wacky sort of way.
Charlene has posted a CQ piece which incorporates the feather stitch.

Hearts - It must be Valentine's Day

Ruth will be teaching this cute little bird at the Shuttlebirds Workshop. Does that mean there will be a whole flock of birds when the class is over? Ruth has posted more details about the workshop on her blog.

Like many of us in Southern Ontario Clyde spent Valentine's day digging out from under the snow. He still managed to find time to post this motif done in a gorgeous Valdani thread Pearl Cotton #12 colour M360. The pattern is his variation of a pattern from Tatting Patterns and Design by Gun Blomqvist and Elwy Persson called Star#1.
Mark has posted 2 variations of a heart that he did for his wife to go with a card. The heart features a rosette, split rings and half ring braid. He has plans for a romantic evening with his wife, and we're sure she'll love the card.

Congratulations to Jon who has completed the challenge and made her 25 motives. The last of her 25 is a square doily made from the bottom up and then finished off with an outer round, very clever. Jon was wondering if she could come up with some designs of her own for the challenge and surprised herself that 24 of her 25 were her own original patterns. For Valentine's day she designed Hearts Snowflake so now she has her 25 original designs ans she's wondering what's next. That's easy, now you document them all and publish.

Riet has posted some lovely hearts for Valentine's day. The smaller ones were done in different sizes of thread and the larger ones are a design she uses as a bookmark. Such a wonderful grouping of hearts. It's so pretty.
For Valentine's day Sharon has posted a pattern for some heart shaped earrings she did a while ago. EeKoon has been working on some wonderful stitching. There's a huge amount of work in these pieces.

Carol had a very snowy Valentine's day and was forced to stay in and tat. Nice. The 15th is her birthday and she has posted some of the hearts she received in exchanges. Look at all the pretties.

Dawn has posted a design of crocheted motives with a tatted edging. Very attractive. On my to do list is an exploration of combined tatting and crochet. Kim Millar did a number of designs using both techniques and they were really beautiful.

Charlene posted a link to a friends blog with an explanation for UFO's. Interesting philosophy.

Sylvia has posted several new motives. The first is a pattern by Jennifer Williams from the RoT spring 2006 newsletter done in Perfect Quilter Thread from the Superior Thread Company. Sylvia cleverly stretched this lovely thread by using a similar size thread as the core thread. Her next motif is a candle done in Omega size 30 and a flower motif from Mary Maynard's design book, Rings of Flowers done in Hakelgarn size 20. Sylvia knows what she wants to film, but her camera doesn't see things the way she wants.

Eliz posts a picture of her tatting basket that used to belong to her husband's aunt. Lots of room for tatting supplies in here. Her motif for the day is Rosemary Peel's heart from the Online tatting class. The other pictures she has posted are a collection of UFOs that she finished off and blocked.

Oodles and Oodles of Tatting

Ruth has added instructions on how to make the Daisy Cluny Ring to her blog. Thank you for the wonderful information Ruth.

Clyde has completed 3 more small motives for his tablecloth. He's had a whirlwind of activity and sad news including the death of a family member and the demise of a TV. On a brighter note he has just received some thread in an exchange package along with some beads and chocolate. Everything goes better with chocolate doesn't it?

Riet has created a lovely little heart that might be small enough to use for an earring. It's just adorable and Riet has sent the pattern to Ruth for the calendar.

Barbara learned how to do split rings from her friend Jon and has tatted Jon's Clover Heart in appreciation.

Marilee has been busy learning different join techniques and experimenting with them. I can't wait to see what she come up with it looks intriguing.

Laura has done a Valentine's day motif. The finished result is very pretty, just not what she envisioned.

Dawn has tatted a heart from the Ring of Tatters site created by Rosemarie Peel. She used a deep red size 10 cotton for this one with pearl beads around the last round.

Every time you blink Marty has another spectacular piece on her blog. This doily uses Coats machine quilting thread in Rainbow colors. It's another of pattern from Iris Neibach's "Tatted Doilies" .

Sylvia has received the threads from her exchange partner and she plans on making something from them that she can use to teach her class.

Flamingo, Cat and Bookmarks

Gail just finished knitting some beaded gauntlets and had the additional challenge of uploading the pictures from her cell phone onto the computer and then into her blog.

Laura's latest motif is a flamingo from Jane Eborall's page.

Sylvia has posted a picture of a Christmas motif and shares the pattern for the button bookmark she did.

Eliz has joined the challenge and posted several motives, including a snowflake from Vida Sunderman and a cat from Inga Madsen as well as several bookmarks. Eliz explains that she hasn't followed any particular pattern she just likes to empty her shuttles by making these bookmarks for her library books. Eliz is really into Inga's Tatted Animals and is currently working on the dog.

Heart and Snowflake

Jon has created a wonderful heart pattern which she sent to Ruth for the Tatting Pattern Calendar. She has also posted the housewife she did as homework for the On-line Tatting class.

Charlene has been working on some crazy quilt hearts.

Sylvia has joined the challenge and already posted a number of tatted items. Her first motif is a Flutterflake by Emma Crew done in a variegated yellow Floretta size 20 and a blue size 80. She also shares with us a button bookmark designed by Anne Franklin, and a braided bracelet from one of Jane Eborall's designs.