<![CDATA[InTatters - Blogs - Donna's Tatting blog by donnawannatat]]> http://www.intatters.com/blog.php?2722-Donna-s-Tatting-blog Free discussion forum dedicated to the art of tatting and tatted lace and other crafts. en Tue, 21 May 2013 04:56:28 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.intatters.com/images/misc/rss.jpg <![CDATA[InTatters - Blogs - Donna's Tatting blog by donnawannatat]]> http://www.intatters.com/blog.php?2722-Donna-s-Tatting-blog All my company is gone! Finally!!! http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?505-All-my-company-is-gone!-Finally!!! Sat, 06 Aug 2011 04:07:37 GMT Between my MIL visiting and then my dad and step-mom I have had someone else in my house who needed my attention for most of June and all of July and... Between my MIL visiting and then my dad and step-mom I have had someone else in my house who needed my attention for most of June and all of July and the first week of August. Finally I have my house to myself and my daily routines can go back to normal. :w00t:

I wanted to participate in the lion brand blog CAL for the first time but I was constantly busy running people around and visiting with them. Now that they are gone I'm quickly trying to catch up but I just looked and it looks like they're finished :ermm: Oh well, mine will be finished soon too.

I did tat another one of Rachel's easy cross bookmarks for my step-mom though. I was trying to explain to them what tatting was but they had no idea. I showed her a picture of the crosses I made and she loved them. I showed her some of my threads and she fell in love with this variegated purple thread so in a couple days I had made her a cross for her bible. She snatched it up so fast and stuck it in her suitcase that I didn't even get a chance to take a picture of it. Oh, well, I'll be making another one like that anyway.

One day someone called me to because I am the Project Linus Coordinator for my area and they said they were cleaning out a house that was full of stuff. They didn't know if I could use it or not but they said there was fabric and yarn and lots of patterns. Only problem was it was all mixed up together and I'd have to sort through and find what I wanted and dispose of the rest. Most of it wasn't really anything I could use for Project Linus since it smelled like cigarettes but they gave me this tall file cabinet full of various patterns and crafting magazines. I was in heaven! I found a few workbasket magazines with tatting patterns and few other books with tatting patterns in them. I even found a magazine with a hardanger pattern in it. Most of the patterns were crochet and there are some for knitting. So I'm in pattern heaven :w00t: ]]> donnawannatat http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?505-All-my-company-is-gone!-Finally!!! New goodies :O) http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?487-New-goodies-O) Sun, 03 Jul 2011 09:42:04 GMT I got my set of 6 tatting needles in the mail today. It was funny because the ebay account is in my name but my husband uses it the most for buying... I got my set of 6 tatting needles in the mail today. It was funny because the ebay account is in my name but my husband uses it the most for buying magic cards (card game). We get a lot of little packages in the mail with my name on them but they are all for him. This time he ripped open the envelope and was bummed. He said, "needles?" with a frown LOL But I was very happy to see them. They came pretty fast! I can't wait to try them but I am making myself wait a little while. My doctor put me on a pain patch and I'm a little loopy (but not hurting!!! yay!). I'd probably stick myself a bunch and end up with a tangled mess.

I also found my beaded earrings I was working on in pink and white for my sister. I had already finished one and had just started the 2nd one. Then my husband told my kids to clean up one day and I couldn't find them anywhere after that. I found them in the bottom of a tub full of yarn and assorted other stuff that had been stuck in the garage! :furious: It took me a good half hour to get them untangled from the other stuff in there. Now I think I'll finish them. My sister sells Mary Kay so she's become very fond of pink. These earrings are from the same pattern as the green/white pair I made that is in my album only those were made with size 10 royale crochet cotton (and were horrendously long) and these are made with size 20 Lizabeth. ]]> donnawannatat http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?487-New-goodies-O) <![CDATA[Taking a knitting break but can't stay away from the thread]]> http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?484-Taking-a-knitting-break-but-can-t-stay-away-from-the-thread Sat, 25 Jun 2011 07:52:15 GMT My husband always says I'm ADHD when it comes to crafts. I can never do one thing for long before something else distracts me. Well I got this email from Lion brand yarn with a few patterns for tie's for Father's day. Well, I know that's over but I really want to make something for my husband. He is one of those guys who doesn't like "crafty" things. He always tells me not to make him anything because he wont wear it. BUT, since I'm not working now and we are tight on money I can't buy him anything. So for Father's day he got a nice breakfast and then we spent the day in the yard and grilled for Dinner........ anyway, it's bothering me to not give him anything. So I'm going to make this tie for him. I bought the microspun yarn in black since choices were pretty limited at our Joanns here in Alaska. For some reason that yarn is on clearance. He wears a lot of black and grey but I really wanted a variegated yarn. I didn't find anything I could use so I started knitting away and got about 4 inches and HATED it. It just was too plain for something handmade. So I ripped it out and went digging through my stash. Finally I ended up with some RED size 10 thread. I put it together with the black yarn and cast on. It looks much much better. :rockhard: I'll take a picture after I have more done but I really like the result so far.

]]> donnawannatat http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?484-Taking-a-knitting-break-but-can-t-stay-away-from-the-thread <![CDATA[Baby Tatter's Ah-hah moments!]]> http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?482-Baby-Tatter-s-Ah-hah-moments! Sun, 19 Jun 2011 05:43:18 GMT I finally finished making two crosses using Rachel's pattern for her Easy Cross (found under patterns).
Sorry the image isn't the best. I used my iPhone since I can't find the battery charger for my camera. One of the crosses is cut off but if you look in my album it's not cut off there.

I am making these for friends and I think they will love them. So as I was working on the pink one it suddenly occurred to me that I could make one using two different colors. :idea: I know this is probably going to make you all say "yeah duh" but I didn't realize until I was trying to figure out how to hide my cut ends. I still don't really know how to do that but I noticed when I tried holding the cut end with the other thread when making a stitch that when the stitch flipped the stitch was made with the double strings. I've always used the ball end to make chains. So it occurred to me that if the ball thread was a different color the stitch would be that color and the shuttle thread would be the core thread and it's opposite for the rings. So I started with the two shuttles that had pink and purple on them and tied the ends together and wah-la! how cool is that?! I guess it must seem silly but I did learn from the internet and didn't see that anywhere.

Another thing I figured out by accident was hand-tatting. I have read where other people have said they hand-tatted a part of a pattern because it was hard to pass the shuttle though and I always wondered how the heck do you do that. Well I ran out of thread on my shuttle and wanted to finish my ring so I grabbed the end of the string and just did it without really thinking about what I was doing. I guess I just did it as if I had a shuttle in my hand. After I finished the ring I thought, "hold up, I just hand-tatted!!!!!!!!" So then I grabbed a ball of crochet cotton worsted weight for making washcloths and wound a little bit into a bundle and started tatting and I made this simple little flower maybe two inches across. Then I took a crochet hook and started crocheting a circle around it. I stopped when I had no idea what I could do with it though. Maybe I'll think of something.

It's fun learning new things. I feel like a big-girl tatter now! I need some pull-ups :twothumbsup: ]]> donnawannatat http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?482-Baby-Tatter-s-Ah-hah-moments! Handy Hands is SO Handy! http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?480-Handy-Hands-is-SO-Handy! Thu, 16 Jun 2011 18:06:16 GMT I am so excited. I finally ordered my thread for the shower curtain I'm making from Handy Hands. I wanted the thread to match the new paint color and it can be hard to trust the trueness of the colors on screen or in printed catalogs so I asked if I could send them a paint sample. They were happy to help. I just put my order in and I was right. The color in the catalog that I thought was closest wasn't the right color and I would have never chosen the colors they suggested. I'm so glad they were so friendly and willing to help with this. I want this shower curtain to look like it was made for the room! I also bought some variegated colors to play with since the choices of thread here in town are slim. I can't wait to get my order. Oh, and since I got the newsletter I get free shipping.......from now on. KEWL BEANS! :thmbup: ]]> donnawannatat http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?480-Handy-Hands-is-SO-Handy! Dormouse??? http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?478-Dormouse Mon, 13 Jun 2011 08:57:13 GMT Why does it say "dormouse" under my name? :emoji-E524: And I don't see my status on posts in the forum. Why is that???? I'm confusaled. ]]> donnawannatat http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?478-Dormouse Note to Self http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?475-Note-to-Self Fri, 10 Jun 2011 04:36:49 GMT Royale Metallic Crochet Thread is TERRIBLE to tat with. The little gold filament gets in the way and causes all kinds of trouble. Trying to make a... Royale Metallic Crochet Thread is TERRIBLE to tat with. The little gold filament gets in the way and causes all kinds of trouble. Trying to make a join I broke the filament and then had to use a little glue to get it to stick to the thread again. It is constantly separating from the main thread and causing a tangled mess. I will NEVER use this again to tat with. It may just end up across the road. :furious: ]]> donnawannatat http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?475-Note-to-Self Tatted edging for shower curtain http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?471-Tatted-edging-for-shower-curtain Sun, 05 Jun 2011 15:24:17 GMT I want something that waves so I'm thinking of one of these patterns but I'm still looking...
Wave or Pattern Edging #1 by Tatman ]]> donnawannatat http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?471-Tatted-edging-for-shower-curtain Bathroom Project http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?469-Bathroom-Project Fri, 03 Jun 2011 20:58:59 GMT Well, since my boys are older I have decided to change the decor of my bathroom from the tropical fish theme we've had for 7 years. My plan is to design each room of my house around a different country - my living room is Ireland, my kitchen Italy, my bedroom is Asian (couldn't decide on one particular country there), my master bath is going to be Parisian themed, I'm letting the kids do their own rooms how they want, and I thought the bathroom could be British ships.... like from the 1700's or so. About a couple weeks back we painted the bathroom a blue-ish gray and then I ragged it with a slate blue glaze. It turned out really nice! I looked at shower curtains and hated all of them so I'm making my own. I bought some crushed voile in white (made me think of a sail) and I'm going to add a tatted edging. Barb from Handy Hands said I could mail her a paint sample and she could work on finding a matching tatting thread. I'm getting excited. This project will take a little while since I have to sew the curtain too but it will be fun! I have an old shower curtain to use as a pattern. I'm thinking of using an edging that has a wave to it....like water. I think I'll tat some motifs and frame them in small square frames - maybe 3 of them to go over the bathtub. I'm taking watercolor painting classes so I'm planning on painting a few pictures to go with the theme too. I'm just giddy with excitement! :w00t2: I hope it turns out as nice as I've invisioned! ]]> donnawannatat http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?469-Bathroom-Project Easy tatted cross http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?462-Easy-tatted-cross Sat, 28 May 2011 10:15:33 GMT I'm going to make this for a few really dear friends :O) I love this design!

Quote Originally Posted by xstchntat View Post


ch- chain, r - ring, p - picot, j - join, rw - reverse work
ch 5
r 4 p 4 p 4 p 4
*ch 4 p 4
r 4 j 4 p 4 p 4(to last p of previous r)
Rep from * til there are 7 rings
ch 4 p 4 p 4 p 4 This is the inside corner
+ r 4 p 4 j 4 p 4(to middle p of previous ring)
ch 4 p 4
r 4 j 4 p 4 p 4(to last p of previous r)
ch 4 p 4
r 4 j 4 p 4 p 4(to last p of previous r)
ch 2
r 2 j 2 p 2 p 2(to last picot of prev r)
ch 2
r 4 j 4 p 2 lp 2 p 4 p 4(to last picot of prev r)
ch 2
r 2 j 2 p 2 p 2(to last picot of prev r)
ch 2
r 4 j 4 p 4 p 4(to last picot of prev r)
ch 4 p 4
r 4 j 4 p 4 p 4(to last p of previous r)
ch 4 p 4
r 4 j 4 p 4 p 4(to last p of previous r)+
ch 4 j(to last p on long ch) 4 p 4 p 4
Repeat from + to +
ch 4 j(to last p on long ch) 4 p 4 p 4
Repeat from + to +
ch 4 j(to last p on long ch) 4 p 4 j(to first picot on first long chain) 4
r 4 p 4 j(to middle p of prev ring) 4 p 4
#ch 4 j 4 (to p on corresponding chain)
r 4 j 4 p 4 p 4(to last p of previous r)
Repeat from # 5 times
ch 5
tie beginning and ending with an overhand knot, cut 2 inches from end for a tassel
Take a 24 inch thread and double it, put it through the top picot of the cross and twist into a rope ending with an overhand knot
]]> donnawannatat http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?462-Easy-tatted-cross Deleting first entry and trying new approach http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?461-Deleting-first-entry-and-trying-new-approach Sat, 28 May 2011 06:18:22 GMT I tried to add pictures of my tatting projects to my first blog post by copying the photo link from my regular blog mygardenblue.wordpress.com... I tried to add pictures of my tatting projects to my first blog post by copying the photo link from my regular blog mygardenblue.wordpress.com and they came out huge! :shock: Since it appears that I can't just add pictures right from my computer I am just going to post the link to my blog posts and the pictures can be viewed there. Maybe I'll figure out another way in the future.

Anyway, I learned about tatting in February of this year (2011) and decided I wanted to learn how to do it! When I finally got around to learning I couldn't find a tatting shuttle anywhere in town. So I made my own. I googled images of "tatting shuttles" to get an idea of how they were made and then I looked around for what I had that I could use to make my own. Click here to read on my regular blog how I made it and see my pictures. Now I have a couple of purchased tatting shuttles but I really like mine better since it holds more thread but if I need something smaller the purchased ones would be better.

My first tatting project was a bookmark and next I made some beaded earrings. There are links to the patterns I used on the pages with the pictures. Sorry the pictures aren't that great as they were taken with my iPhone. I'm currently working on another pair of earrings in pink and white with smaller thread so the earrings will be smaller. I have taking a bit of a break from tatting to get some other things done around the house but I am excited to learn more :girlpower:

Hey, how come it says "you may add 5 tags to this entry" but you can really only add 2!?!?! gRRrrr! ]]> donnawannatat http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?461-Deleting-first-entry-and-trying-new-approach Sorry about the HUGE pictures http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?460-Sorry-about-the-HUGE-pictures Sat, 28 May 2011 05:33:48 GMT In my first post I just went to my regular blog and used the photo links from there. I didn't realize the pictures were that big! They also look blurry but they don't look like that on my blog BUT they were taken with my iPhone so they aren't the best pictures.

I'm still trying to figure out how to fix this. This website baffles me. ]]> donnawannatat http://www.intatters.com/entry.php?460-Sorry-about-the-HUGE-pictures