Finally....The Lace Mat

Even though in the beginning I was on a roll with the Lace Mat started by Jon Yusoff, life came into my way. I also traveled to India to see my mom. Of course during my waits at the airport, I was tatting and that peeked quite a lot of interests. The good part is that, many of them knew or had heard of tatting before. Here is my final product. Rows 1 and 4 are the same variegated thread. On rows 2 and 3, I used the matching greens which I also used alternatively in the final clovers.

Two Posts in a day?

This is totally not me.....but, I am so excited and have to do a second post today. I took a side bar from tatting and did some beadwork and want to share it with you. How do you like it?? There is one mistake - the bracelet ended up to be little too big for my wrist. Therefore, I have to give it as a gift. Ummmm...who is going to be the lucky recipient?

Lace Mat - On A Roll

Even though the third row was not my favorite, I was eager to complete it. I finished it last night and blocked it also. However, the ends have to be sewn in. So, what color should I use next. I think I am leaning to the color of the first row. On the other hand, I could order the Raspbery Lizbeth. I may lose interest in this mat if I wait too long. :) I have enough to-do's. How does a tatter have so many WIP??

Tat-Along .... onto row 3

I have now completed row 2 of the tat-along. I have to say that Jon definitely did a wonderful job in the charting. It was very easy to follow. I started on row 3 but can see that the long chains are already getting in my way. It is certainly an easy row to tat but long chains are not my favorite.

Tat-Along Lace Mat

I have also joined Jon Yusoff's call to the Tat-Along Lace Mat - original pattern by Norma Benporath. Jon has been very resourceful in creating visual with counts. Since I am going to tat with different colors in each round, I am not going to worry about continuous tatting using Split Rings and Split Chains. I found these beading needles called "Big Eye" beading needle. The middle part of the needle is like a thread looper and therefore, any size thread will go through it. Being a flexible piece of wire, when you sew in the ends, the needle bends, but it still does the job well. I completed row 1 and it definitely needed bursts of steam to make it lay flat. I did not spend a lot of time pinning it to bring it to the shape as it was late yesterday when I finished it and I was tired.

Tatted Sassy Turtle

I have been taking online tatting lessons from Teri Dusenbury . Her work is simply stunning. I was amazed at her talent; drooling whenever I saw her tatted and beaded creations. Teri used to have a blog where she shared numerous free tatting patterns (her own designs as well as vintage ones). For a long time, I did not know what happened to her until recently when I "bumped" into her on Facebook. I showed interest in learning from her and she asked me whether I wanted to be an online student (again "free of charge"). Teri has been extremely patient with me. Now I am so confident in being able to manipulate 130 - 150 inches of thread/cord and doing finger tatting. Yes, you heard that right - finger tatting with beads. Here is my first completed project in its entirety - SASSY TURTLE. I have started naming my turtles now.

Hooray......I got it!!

If you have been following the posts of Jon Yusoff and Frivole, you saw that they are mastering the Interlocking Rings. It all came about as Rachel has a new motif pattern that she posted on her blog. In any case, I have been trying to do the interlocking rings watching Karen Cabrera's videos. But, it just did not click. My problem was not as much getting the last ring correct but more into that there will be at least one ring in between that quite did not look as interlocking rings.....as per Jon's words, "they are not in the same direction". I think we Math folks have an issue when things are not in order. Anyway, I have to say that persistence and some help from Jon's diagram has got me successful in this venture. This picture may not be the greatest. It looked great on my iPhone. But, when I sent it as an email attachment as small size, it looks all blurry. But, you can see my successful attempt!

Gift for a Friend - Diamonds and Pearls

A couple of weeks ago I met an elderly woman at my Bible study. She chatted with me for a while and when she asked me whether I had any hobby, I was eager to show her my tatted doily. She could not stop admiring it. My husband, who was sitting next to me, then said, "you should give that to her". Of course, she said "no". Later I found out that her favorite color was green. I was on a mission to make a Cross bookmark for my friend "Jan". I decided to do the Diamonds and Pearls design. Unfortunately, my copy was a printed page from the web and did not have the designer name. It was such a joy to make this SCMR bookmark. If anyone remembers the designer, will you please note in the comments?

Inspiration from reading blogs

I was reading through blogs yesterday and stumbled on Sharren's blog and was inspired to tat the cross (actually I had forgotten about this pattern for a long time) and a sample of the bracelet using SCMR(I have tatted this pattern before, but strung all the beads on the shuttle). This is way easier than loading all the beads. These were very good projects to try out while watching NCAA. Thank you Sharren for inspiring me.

Following Diane!

I was drooling over all the different threads Diane (Lace-Lovin Librarian) had. She was such a sweetheart to send me some samples. And look what I did with them right away......tatted Diane's favorite motif STUMPY. She sent me three samples and I used color 4033 for my first try. The thread is so smooth. I normally don't tat with such fine thread but this was worth the trial. My next test is to blend it with another solid color and see how it turns up.

Anyone willing to trade?

Don't know whether anyone out there in the blog world is willing to trade a Starlit shuttle with me. I ordered two Starlit shuttles and pretty much wrote in my comments, "please send me two different colors". I ordered it from Nordic Needle as I wanted to get a Romanian Point Lace book that was reasonably priced in that store. The receipt shows my comments....but guess what, I received TWO Starlit shuttles of the same color (purple).

If there is anyone there who is willing to trade another color (other than purple) and would like to receive a purple one instead, please let me know?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Completed test tatting the second flower for Sue Draney and sent her a picture of it.

Two Color SSSR

I decided to follow Jon Yusoff's path and try out the TWO COLOR SSSR. Obviously this is a new technique for me since I still consider myself a novice in this field. Here is my sample..... I can see the endless possibilities with this.



Even though I have not blogged much, I have been tatting. I completed test tatting for Jessica at SnappyTatter a choker for which I added beads in the picot using Jane Eborall's technique. I shy away from loading beads on the shuttle but I think I will take on the challenge again. I am also test tatting for Sue Draney's new book. I am enjoying the test tatting opportunity.

I completed Mary Konior's Large Cross for my sister's birthday in February. It came out very nice. I had every plan to take a picture. But, I was so focused on getting it done to be mailed overseas that I remembered I did not take a picture after I walked out of the post office.

Gina...we will all miss you!

This week has been filled with sad news for me. The tatting world lost a favorite. I know Gina mainly through her blog. I was the lucky recipient of one of her giveaways. She and I exchanged several emails at that time since she was making me something special with my name in beads. I was estactic when I received her package. I could not believe all the goodies I got. Some of the things she included, I never even knew existed.

Gina's blog is usually the first blog I access. I like to see her work and then click off on all the blogs she follows. I will miss reading about her different tatting and painting adventures. I truly wish I met her at least once in person. All those who knew her personally, I am sure you feel blessed knowing her. I can only imagine your sorrow!

I don't have enough words to express my gratitude to all the contritbutions she made to the tatting world. Thank you GINA!!! I am sure you are smiling down from heaven.

Logos added

I have been planning to add InTatters and StitchMAP logos to my blog for the longest time. Finally, today I found the time to do it. I am getting blog saavy!! I wish Georgia's site had a logo that I can use as a gadget on my blog. She has been my greatest inspiration for my tatting adventures. Thanks Georgia. A great BIG hug to you!

Happy Friday!!

I love Fridays... I think everyone loves it. I haven't tried much of serious tatting in the last week. However, I tatted bits and pieces. I am trying to see without a pattern, just from my mind, whether I can do some tatting. It has not been successful so far. But, I was just doing it for the fun anyway.

I received a neat package yesterday from Gloria in Chile as she was one of my Winter Exchange partners in InTatters. I love the purse she send with tatted edging. She actually made the purse on a loom. Very nice. Thank you Gloria!!!

Happy New Year

I am keeping my 2012 promise to myself....that is, find time to do more tatting. Yesterday I tatted Yakut from Jon's latest book Elegant Tatting Gems. I like Jon's designs. I was able to block it and here it is for you!



I have done another snowflake from that same book today. But, I did not get a chance to sew in ends or block it. I will post that next time.