More bags

Below is a pic of two bags I just finished up this weekend. These are also two of my favorite colors! The purple one is done with Lizbeth size 3, needle tatted and crocheted, lined with dark purple felt. The green one was made with Lizbeth size 10, shuttle tatted and crocheted, also lined with dark purple felt.

Hmm....yeah, I make lots of bags...freaky!

bulky cotton

Cotton is my absolute favorite natural. I like the feel, the sheen ... though bamboo is pretty cool too.

This summer I'll be offering a class or two in needle tatting -- which I pretty much gave up once I mastered the shuttle. Needle tatting works especially well when using thicker, bulkier yarns since you don't need to wind it all on a giant tatting shuttle that probably wouldn't get you too far anyway... soooo.... I had found this Laines du Nord Cleo (100 gr. 110m/119 yds) in a sale bin and picked up a few balls. It's a bulky 100% cotton yarn and I loved the shine. To try it out I first crocheted up this filet scarf:

Here's a detail shot:

filet crochet I just filled in a random space every other row, single crochet edging

This yarn seemed like a good candidate to use for brushing up on my needle tatting skills so here's the motif I needle tatted up:

I really like this yarn and it's bulky look. It was, however a bit "splity" to crochet with, but not so much that I'd never use it again.

So... I had a very busy weekend, but I did manage to whip up this split ring bracelet using size 10 Lizbeth thread and some wooden beads. I wasn't entirely happy with the closing of the bracelet, but it worked, and wanted to post a few pics just to show it off and ask about closing suggestions.... then....

...a shadowy figure appeared lurking nearby:

... and when I least expected it*:

*no tatting sustained damage in the making of this blog post

back on the lockstitch chain gang

I've been thinking about chains lately. The fiber made kind, that is, of course. I guess it really started waaaay back when... well...not all THAT waaay back when.... hmmm, oh well... as a child of about eight or so my mother starting me out on crochet and I can still remember the G hook and the light blue yarn I used for that chain. I wound what must have been at least twenty feet of crocheted chain into a ball... I was very proud! Although I've created many other things through the years and incorporated various fancy stitches, I marvel most at what can be done with the simplest of elements and the most basic of stitches. This is probably why I've always loved tapestry crochet too... one simple stitch... and the design and color used bring it to life. But I digress.. or do I? A few years back I even crocheted up a bunch of brightly colored chains and sold quite a few at local craft sale as a kind of versatile jewelry you could wind into a bracelet or necklace.

Lately, I've been feeling not too inspired and have mainly focused on getting out those WIPs (works in progress) that I've had laying about and getting them finished up - and I've been pretty successful with that - yay!. Then a series of things got me back to thinking of the wonders of the chain again... this time, the tatted chain. I created a series of tatted necklaces around the holiday time and what people commented on most was the way I had tatted the chain ... with a lockstitch (first part flipped, second part not flipped). It gives the chain a very woven, macrame kind of look (another example).

Where the heck am I going with all this? I'm not even sure! But thanks to the assistance of a fellow twitterite (@judijo) there are two links here for anyone interested in trying their hand at a lockstitch chain:

Lockstitch instructions for needle tatters
Lockstitch instructions for shuttle tatters

I've also done lockstitch chains just by finger tatting... it's kinda macrame-ish.. or is it tattcrame? They are easy to make, popular, and a fun project to use to introduce anyone to tatting. (I think starting people off by finger tatting is the way to go, btw. They understand the stitch (and the elusive flip) better.... and I mean, really... indispensable as it may be in most situations, the shuttle just holds the thread! At any rate here's a couple examples:

friendship bracelets using lockstitch chain in two colors (the blue ones are size 10 cotton)

bracelets in lockstitch, made with 1mm cotton cord (the center one using a double strand)

a close up of the stitch

People sometimes ask for instructions.... and I have to say, I rarely write down what I do, but here's an attempt at this simple little bracelet. If you don't know lockstitch at all, you might want to start with the instructions in the links up above there. Although I did needle tatting years ago, I left it by the wayside once I learned to shuttle tat, so I admit my ignorance of needle tatting mechanics and my bias for the shuttle.

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The basic lockstitch friendship bracelet

What you'll need: 

• about 3-4 feet of braiding cord (or cotton cord 1mm or 1.5 mm) - this should make a bracelet between 6-8 inches or so, depending on the wrist it's meant to go around, use a bit more for a longer bracelet or anklet ... or necklace!)
• one bead of some kind with a hole big enough for the cord to go through (wooden beads usually have nice big holes for braiding cord, but sometimes you can find ceramic, glass, or bone too)

The steps:

1. find the center of length of cord and make a tight overhand knot leaving a loop big enough for your bead to through - this also gives you something to hang on to as you start knotting/tatting
2. now do the lockstitch to the required length of your bracelet- ok, you all hate me here, but the mechanics of the stitch are explained in the links up above
3. when you've reached the desired length, finish with another overhand knot, slip on the bead, do another overhand knot (or two) to secure the bead .... woohoo... you got your bracelet!

Jingled Up!

As I was going through our trunk of Christmas decorations I came across some tatted ornaments I had made years ago and decided to use them on a little tree, creating a centerpiece for our dining room table this season.

On this side of the tree are some of the first tatted ornaments I ever made. Seems like years ago, now, but at the time I was new to tatting and could not get the flip of shuttle tatting, so I started with needle tatting. I must have made what seemed like hundreds of this motif (a variation of Kersti Anear's Stumpy bookmark). I can remember including one in every Christmas card I sent that year. I needle tattted them in variations shades of #5 pearl cotton - who can resist the great colors and shine of perl cotton!

The other motif that figures greatly on this side of the tree is the 6 ring snowflake, another one of my beginner motifs I picked up somewhere and made oodles of.

Not to be intimidated, I did finally learn to shuttle tat and have been doing so for about 9 years now. You'll also notice a bit of shuttle tatted garland on the tree.

Here's a close up.

On the other side of the tree I put various shuttle tatted ornaments. Although I can't remember where all the designs came from anymore, I do know that the more prominent one you see came from Rozella Linden's book Easy Tatting... and it's easy to adjust into a 4- 5- or 6-pointed motif.

Another close up of the motifs used. (You might also spy a bit of garland made out of a crocheted Solomon's knot.)

I like to try tatting with various kinds of fibers (you'll notice the orange star on the top of the tree is made from rattail (satin cord). I came upon some hand dyed hemp some time back and created these rainbow motifs.

Our bigger tree in the living room is decked out with some of the larger tatted snowflakes I've made and some older crocheted snowflakes created by my mother, along with old and new treasured family ornnaments.

As my son told me the other day. "our place is all jingled up!"

Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas to one and all!