Motif # 24, 25. a doily study

This trio of doilies marks the end of one 25 Motif Challenge. They are from the same pattern called Tatted Antique Lace Doily by Darlene Polachic. I did it for the first time several years ago, below, and fell in love with it. I liked the way it looked and how easy it was. I made it all in Lizabeth Carousel #112.

After I made it, I decided that if I did the chains in a solid, it would make the rings pop. 

Motif #24

It measures 5 3/4 across and done in Omega size 50 varigated burnt orange and some vintage ecru Mom gave me.The lightest color in the varigated thread is a bit peachy-er than the ecru so the chains don't stand out as I would have liked. Sometimes holding two balls of thread together doesn't always work out in the final product. I think it's still a nice looking doily, but not what I had in mind.

Then I decided to go down to size 80 and try a solid.


Motif #25

This one measures just under 5" and is the first time I had ever used thread that small. The thread is DMC size 80. I believe the green has been discontinued and the chains are in ecru.

A few weeks after I finished the size 80, I was gnawing open the envelope that contained the latest Handy Hands Catalog to see the new colors (we've all been there), saw Blue River Glades and promptly bought a ball of size 20.


This is Lizabeth Blue River Glades, #164 with the chains in ecru and measures 7 3/4". I think is this my favorite color combo of the three.

Motif #20, 21, 22, 23 more bookmarks

Wow, I had no idea I was this close to finishing my first 25 motifs until I typed the header to this post.

The two on the left are Insertion No. 36 from  The DMC Book of Charted Tatting Designs by Kirstine Nikolajsen and Inge Lise Nikolajsen. The rings are Lizabeth #633 Dark Purple and the chains are Lizabeth #611 gold and #605 Silver.

In ecru and #166 Pink Cocoa is the Overlapping Chains bookmark and Mary Konior's Anniversery edging in varigated yellow and dark purple for the centers. I had a full shuttle of purple, can'tcha tell?

Motif #18 & 19 - Anniversary bookmark

These bookmarks are from Mary Konior's Tatting with Visual Patterns and its the Anniversary edging. The left one is made with unknown varigated yellow and DMC brown in size 20. The yellow was the first time I made that pattern and it wasn't until after I finished that I discovered that there was an extra picot on each flower. The other one is Lizabeth #166 Pink Cocoa. I don't care for pink but I do like the pink and brown combo. On the pink and brown one, I paid closer attention to the pattern, (and turned off the TV) and it turned out better, with the expecption of an extra petal on the bottom end flower. But you probably wouldn't have noticed unless I pointed it out, huh? ;) 

I read a lot of tatting blogs, and I don't notice other peoples mistakes unless they point it out and even then after zooming in on the photo I still can't find it unless it's a glaring mistake like rabbit ears on a seahorse. The only misktake that I notice and that bothers me is people who put antennas on dragonflies. Dragonflies don't have antennas. Well, actually they do, but they are so super tiny, that it wouln't be worth the time to make them, but they aren't long ones like on butterflies. That is something that bothers me.

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Motif #17 - Be-Stitched bookmark

This bookmark is from the Be-Stitched.com site. It is worked in size 20 Lizabeth Vineyard Harvest and Leaf Green Med for the border.

Motif # 14, 15, 16 Lace Elegance trio

This trio is called Lace Elegance and is from Tatting Doilies & Edgings edited by Rita Weiss. Size 20 Lizabeth Sea Scape #125. The sizes are 2-3" across.

Birthday present

Today is my birthday and Mom gave me this Anne Orr Tatting book #48, copyright 1950. She seems to have better luck finding tatting books in antique stores and flea markets than I do.

Motif # 13 - Dresser doily

This is the small mat of Dressing Set from the Handy Hands Newsletter Winter 2010 (vol 18 issue 1). The color is Lizabeth Wildflower #109 and is 7" across.

 I'd like to do this one again in either a solid or varigated and do the two little rings that go head to head in a contrasting color. I tried to make the larger oval mat that goes with this one, but couldn't for the life of me figure out the 3 rings of the 1st round. After going through an entire shuttle of thread without success, I gave up. I don't know if I was making it harder than it needed to be, or if there was a typo / info missing from the instructions, or both.

I was at my grandma's last month and gave her this doily along with a snowflake.

Motif #12 Denim Whisper

This is Design 52 from Tatting - 60 Original Lace Treasures by Christel Weidman. Although I've only done one motif from this book, it's one of my favorites as there are a ton of edgings that can be combined into rounds for custom one-of-a-kind doilies.  The color is Lizabeth Denim Whisper #120 and is 5.25" across.

And I'm very excited to announce that with Motif 11, the Diamond Doily, I have completed all of my UFO tatting projects. I still haven't been able to find the pattern for this coaster so I have decided it is done as is. As of this writing I'm done, anyway. No telling how many projects I will start and abandon for what ever reason in the next hours/days/weeks.

Motif #11 Diamond Doily

This is "Diamonds Are Forever" by Roger aka/Freedman. The link I had to this pattern no longer works. Thread is Lizabeth Country Turquoise Med #661 and ecru, size 20. I started this about 2 years ago and when you look closer, you can tell where I stopped as my tension is tighter than it was 2 years ago. This finishes to 10.5" across and is the largest doily I've made to date.

Motif #10 - Spinning Glass Mat

This is Spinning Wheel glass mat from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior made with Lizabeth Autumn Spice #136 and finishes to 4" across which is a full inch smaller than the book listed. But then it was made with mercer crochet thread which may be a bit thicker.

Clover hanky

 

I bought this clover hanky from a vintage hanky vendor at the Oklahoma City winter quilt show probably about 3 years ago. I had just bought the green varigated size 40 thread and thought it was a good match and immeadiatly started on the edging. The plan was to have it done by St. Patrick's day. By that Valentine's day I had just over half the length done and could have easily finished it, but for whatever reason, put it away in a little compartment of my tatting supply box where it patiently lived, hopefully looking up at me each time I opened the box.

Well, I got it done by St. Pat's, I just didn't specify the year. 

I proudly showed it to my husband who gave a soft grunt of admiration then held his hand behind the thin hanky material and said, 'if you blowed your nose on this, everything would go straight through.' Thanks, babe, love you too.

Please tell me I'm not the only one this happens to.

Self 1: "Is this enough?"
Self 2: "Maybe 2 more arm lengths."
*click click click*
Self 1: "How about now?"
Self 2: "Just to be sure, put one more."
*click click click*
Self 1: "now?"
Self 2: "ehhhhh......"
*click click click*
Self 2: "just fill up the shuttle, we'll make little butterflies with the leftovers"
*click click click click click*
Self 2: "Keep going"
Self 1: "It won't hold any more"
Self 2: "yeah, it will"
*click click*

Later That Week......

Self 1 and 2 in unison: "DAMMIT"
Self 2: "and this is our last round too."
Self 1: "Shut up and get me some chocolate."

Motif #9 - Harvest Vinyard Doily

This was finished shortly after I moved to WA over the summer. It was for the most part finished but I had 2" left on the final round (yes, I did all the rounds on this one) when I packed it up for the move. The pattern is by Darlene Polachic and is called "Ivory Lace" done in size 20 Lizabeth Vineyard Harvest #131 and Leaf Green Med.#684 and is 8.5" across. I've been trying to incorporate a solid in at least one round of the doilys that have varigated thread to give it some interest. Sometimes it works, like this one. And other times it doesn't quite work out the way I imagined.

It was more than kinda ruffly when I finished it, which I'm assuming is because I have tight tension as the pattern photo showed a flat doily. I left it ruffly until picture day before ironing it because the ruffles didn't look good in the photo.

Motif #8 - Coaster?

I made this before my move this summer and considered it a UFO. Recently I decided to finish it, and looked through every book and printout I have and cannot find the pattern.  The colors are Lizabeth Mountain Breeze #134, Leaf Green Light #683 and Leaf Green Medium #684. So until I can find/remember what the pattern was, it will be considered a coaster.

Motif #7 - Pink Heart

This is Gypsy Heart from Teri Dusenbury's Tatting Hearts book. It's been a while since I had done split rings so it was good to get a refresher.

I've also learned how to do a single shuttle split ring and a self closing mock ring in the last few weeks. I don't have any patterns that call for those techniques, but it's nice to know I can do them. I need to relearn how to do cluny leaves but I don't think my hand can handle that kind of workout at the moment.

Oak Leaf

This oak leaf and acorn came from Tatting Turns Over a New Leaf by Karey Solomon. Seed beads were added to give the illusion of dew drops on the leaf. I made an extra long stem and attached an acorn for a bookmark.

Motif #6 - Graciella Doily

This is "Graciella" from Tatted Doilies by Iris Niebach. I didn't do the last round because I liked the look of the doily at that point as the 3 little thrown rings gave it an interesting look that makes it stand out from other doilies I've made. The colors are Lizabeth 642 Lilac Medium and 154 Wildflower Garden.

I've found that half the time I often don't do the final round(s) of a doily. Most of the time it's because I'm bored with it, it's the size I want or the colors aren't what I imagined.  Other times, I choose to stop at the next to last round because I feel that the final round feels 'forced' and looks like a heavy border on what would otherwise be a light and airy doily. Am I the only one who feels that way?



Motif #5 - 10th Day of December Snowflake

This is the 10th Day of December snowflake from 24 Snowflakes in Tatting by Lene Bjorn.

Tougher than they look

Anna's hummingbirds overwinter in the Pacific Northwest. There are two females that share/fight over my feeder. They fly slower in the cold and aren't as agressive in protecting their territories. What they lack in speed they more than make up for in scolding from their perch when the other is at the feeder. I guess if you have a warm spot on a twig, you don’t really want to waste energy chasing after some feathery tart at your sugar water. Besides my feeder, there's a feeder at the park office 50' away and another one about half a block down the road so they aren't exactly starving. I'd love to put out a little heat lamp for them, but the electric is high enough as it is right now.

Tatted Antique Lace Doily

This is a pattern called Tatted Antique Lace Doily by Darlene Polachic. It's made with Lizbeth Carousel thread size 20. I didn't do the last round because it was a chain and ring round and I didn't like the way the chain looked so I decided it was finished as is.

Dragon

Here is the ever popular dragon by Anne Bruvold . I had just learned split rings when I did this a few years ago. The pattern calls for single shuttle split rings for the body which I still don't know how to do so I did regular split rings.

Thread is size 20 red semi-vintage.

Maple Leaf

This is Tammy Rodger's maple leaf done in Lizbeth harvest orange medium. I tatted this sitting in the sunroom watching the birds and got a bit distracted and missed a ring. This explains the slight asymmetry, but I've never seen a perfect leaf so this goof doesn't bother me.

I recently bought Tatting Turns Over a New Leaf so I'm really looking forward to making more leaves.

My first 'real' doilies

Here are pair of doilies that I did a couple of years ago. I consider them my first real doilies because I was finaly consistant in my tension and felt ready to move on from the bulky size 10 thread.

As I was working on the top one, I wondered what it would look like with the colors reversed. The pattern is Blue Doily by Eileen Stafford. The thread is DMC size 12 perle cotton. They came out to be about 4 1/2" wide.