Amusement Doily

I recently found two metal rings that I must have had for at least 10 years. About that time there was a craze in ‘tat world’ to cover rings of various sizes and make jewellery or Christmas decorations. My aim was to use a series of rings to make a wall hanging,

So as you see I tatted the amusement doily and have nearly attached it inside the ring, however as usually happens with me, I got distracted and the project is unfinished. My tatting distraction was to make some more rainbow earrings.

I have now another distraction, for the first time in years I am actually in the process of designing something in tatting.  It is not a doily, it is not an animal or motif. It is going to take a few weeks and from time to time will probably have to talk to Jane and ask for advice, but I am rather excited about it!  

One day I will finish what I started!

Found

Now I had lost these teapots when I tidied them away soon after lockdown. My aim was to put them onto cards, I can now do this, when I have found the cards! Just love this pattern from Martha Ess’s book ‘Tatting with buttons’.

The miniature teapot in the picture comes from Hong Kong, I bought it when we lived there and from time to time I think it should go but it is so unusual and therefore have not the heart to get rid of it.

Bag

I began to sew this bag in March as a ‘lock down project’ all was going  well and I was enjoying the free time and opportunity to do some creative craft work. However, very soon I lost interest in it and in fact everything. Three weeks later I picked it up again and made a massive effort to finish the bag. 

Also determined to make it a little bit different I tatted a trim, although  I thought it may spoil the bag and make it look too fancy.  However, I am  pleased with the look especially as it matches the decor of the room in which it will live.

This is a close up of the trim and the pattern can be found here

Rainbows of thanks

For those of you who live outside of the UK perhaps you are unaware of how the ‘Rainbow’ has become a symbol of thanks to those working in the National Health Service (NHS) especially during the outbreak of Covid-19.  Over the last five weeks children and adults have made their own rainbow pictures out of a variety of materials and  put them in the windows of homes and business.  We are truly grateful to all health professionals and to those people who have been looking after residents in care homes and others who have kept essential services running during the pandemic.   These are my rainbows to wear!

With the bottom set I used Lizbeth 20 thread Rainbow Splash the colour way my sister Jane Eborall thought of and it is just right with random beads for these earrings. The top set were rather a fiddle counting the colours on to the thread and shuttle in the exact order.

The pattern can be found here  it is very old.  
 I remember seeing it years ago and wanting to tat the earrings, now my time has come!  Thank you Georgia Seitz it seems that your pattern has now had a lovely come back.

Tatted Crosses

Thank you to those who commented on my last post and welcomed me back, so unexpected and lovely, I really must try and keep up my posts on this bog.

Before Easter I made some tatted crosses which I gave away, all but one. It was during the first few weeks of lockdown. My gifts, mostly posted, took the place of a face to face contact. I then made some more but have not, as yet, put  tails on them so they can be used as a bookmarks. 

Thank you to http://tattingbythebay.blogspot.com/p/free-patterns.html for the pattern, it is simple but very elegant.

I used number 80 and 100 thread together and enjoy seeing the different colour combinations that these threads seem to produce. 

A bit of a break

I have not posted anything for a long time on this blog, mainly because I got out of the routine and then suddenly all other routines in life went when the pandemic struck.  So I found these earrings which I made using the thread from Singapore. I have done other tatting but have lost some of the items in the past week or two since tidying up!

Ten years and still going

This month the pop-a-bobbin shuttle is celebrating its ten year anniversary. The design is far more streamlined than the original version and most shuttles are oiled instead of varnished. Also the hooks are now bought from Japan and then cut to size.  Production of the shuttles does not happen that often, mainly due to other commitments going on in our lives. We still get lots of enquiries and try to honour most within a span of three months.
The prices have also remained static and so we are going to have to raise them next month, not only to reflect the rising cost of materials but also the new packaging.

Instead of putting the shuttles into plastic bags, we have decided to use a cardboard box so reducing materials that cannot be recycled.  However, I think you will agree the packaging looks far more professional and enhances the workmanship.