Black is Black

Strange when I was thinking about a title for this post the song "Black is Black" kept popping into my head, reminds me of my teenage years perhaps?  If you haven't heard it here is the link

When Jane showed me a sneak preview of her new brooch using the winsome earring pattern I told her that I had made quite a few black earrings and she suggested that I posted them, so here they are.  I wear a lot of black as it suits me, but these earrings are going to be, hopefully, sold at a Christmas Market to be held at our church next month.  I have asked Jane's permission.  They are in preparation for the Christmas parties many ladies will attend, a finishing touch to their party frock!

The black and yellow ones look really good too, they are yellow beads in the middle but the photograph has taken the colour out of them.

I have also made many others pairs in different colours.  At first I wasn't too happy about the ends to these earrings and I know that it is possible to add a few more beads and weave the threads in, thus hiding them.  However, now I really like seeing them as it shows that the earrings are made with thread and tatted, it adds to their authenticity. 

Promises, Promises

When ever I promise to do something (and remember that I have actually promised), I try my hardest to keep that promise.  In August I said I would write the pattern down for this necklace and post it on my blog. Well I haven't forgotten and it is half written but events over the last few months have interfered with so many of my plans including this one.  The project has been put away for a day when I can really sit down and concentrate on something for longer than a couple of hours!

The shops are starting to show signs of Christmas and as the weeks go by, more and more shelves are being given over to cards, decorations and all the paraphernalia that goes with the season.  To get myself into the mood for writing out patterns again, I picked up another pattern I promised to write down last year - oh dear failed again!!!  Here is the link showing the gold bauble covered in black thread, can you believe it was December 2009?!

The top bauble is a thread that Sue Anna sent me called Brilliant Sunset and is size 50, a size that I don't usually use but works perfectly with this pattern.  The two red ones are using Altun Basak, the thread adds a bit of glitter to the baubles.  Now it is a case of walking past the boxes of baubles on the shelves, I keep telling myself that I have enough!

A Blast from the Past

Here are two items of tatting that were not made by me, this beautifully coloured one was made by Jane, many, many years ago. It was a present and came with some drink mats to match.  I wonder if she remembers making it?!  At the time I knew how to tat but my skills were very basic and working in different colours and on such a large item seemed beyond my ability.  Sadly this piece was stuffed in a bag and moved around from one country to another and so has  become a little stained.

 

This doily was made by my Grandmother the person that taught Jane and I to tat. Again it is not in marvelous condition but I could not part with either of these little gems.  I have also just noticed that the scan is not perfect - it has curled over on the left hand side!  

Hopefully soon I will be able to find time to tat, but this week is going to be incredibly busy moving my father-in-law and we don't live in the area either.  Still help is at hand from Jane!

Harvest Festivals

It has been busy over the last month with all four churches celebrating Harvest. The flower arrangers have had a creative time decorating the buildings, I could post so many lovely pictures but you would all get so bored with them!

The book mark is one that I made years ago and it used to live in a plastic sleeve, no idea where the pattern came from and I never really liked the colours until this year but they do go rather well with the season.

This loaf of bread was transported to each church in turn as they celebrated harvest.    As you can see it is shaped like a sheaf of wheat and on the bottom there is a piece of bread that is supposed to represent a mouse, although sometimes the cooking throws it out of shape.   Also fortunately a real church mouse didn't have a nibble at it!

 This is one of the beautiful arrangements sitting in a church window, can you see the apples poking out of the bottom?

Sadly no shuttles are being made at the moment as we are busy with family commitments which are taking all our spare time up.

Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness

We are falling into Autumn in England the leaves on the trees are changing into beautiful colours, there are misty mornings and the air has a chill in it.

These leaves are from a pattern that Jane designed and I have been wanting to make them ever since she showed them to me last year.  Then Sue Anna so very kindly sent me some samples of the new Lizbeth threads and that was it I knew exactly what I had to use them for.  Two are tatted with Autumn Spice and the other Leafy Greens.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.

From John Keats' poem, To Autumn 1820

These gourds were outside a village flower shop and they looked so beautiful so I decided to photograph them, which was a bit of a cheek as my intention was not to buy any, well not at the price they were charging!

Here is part of the menu showing what we had to eat at our harvest supper on Saturday evening. I made all these soups catering for 38 people and my hands were so sore after chopping up all the vegetables especially the butternut squash which like all gourds has a very hard skin.  

You will notice that the member of our congregation who typed and printed this menu has a very good sense of humour!

Old and New

There has been a bit of a change in my life recently, oh not dramatic, just that I am now the proud owner of an Apple Mac mini, not a Mini Mac or it sounds like a hamburger!   I was getting on fine with it until yesterday then suddenly when moving the mouse over some of the icons in the dock they went "puff" and disappeared, of course I must have done something wrong to make them do that.  My son set up the computer and has gone back to Singapore and unfortunately says he is out now, the time zone is a bit of a problem.  Jane has tried to help via e.mail but now fear has set in and I'm reluctant to press anything else!

So fiddling with a new computer and a new camera has not given me much time to do any tatting but I did manage to make one of Jane's flurry snowflakes.  Yes a new camera as well, so the quality of the photographs that I post on this blog should now improve.  

 

And the "old" well these are some beads that I purchased in the last few weeks, the ones on the far right are from e.bay and were sold as broken, they are glass and look "vintage".  The others beads are mainly plastic, some I got from the tip when I was with Jane and the others from my local tip, it was a surprise to see them as usually there isn't much to purchase when visiting the one in my area.  They are to be used in tatting, well at least that is my aim!

Apples and Pears

"I'm in the garage" has been sourcing wood again and fortunately, although perhaps unfortunately for our friends, a pear tree decided to split and a huge branch came down on their garden laden with unripened pears.  The result was that "you know who" jumped into his van with chain saw in the back and had a really good Saturday afternoon salvaging some lovely pear wood.

The picture shows some of the results of his hard work, the pear wood is obviously the pieces with the said fruit on top and the same goes for the apple wood, which has come from one of the trees in my late father's garden. "I'm in the garage" has been after these English woods for a long time and is so delighted that he now has a good stock of them. Eventually he will be able to make plenty of shuttles from these pieces.

"Apples and Pears" is a well known Cockney Rhyming Slang for "Stairs".  A Cockney is someone who was born in London within the sound of the "Bow Bells" (St Mary-le-Bow Church in Cheapside).  The origins of Cockney Rhyming Slang are uncertain although it is frequently suggested that it began its life as the tongue of the London street trader, the costermongers, perhaps in an attempt to conceal their often illicit practices from the public or more importantly any illegal activities from the recently established police force, known as the "Peelers".

Here are a few more examples of Cockney Rhyming Slang :
Adam and Eve  =  Believe
Dog and Bone   =  Phone
Daisy Roots     =  Boots
Brown Bread    =  Dead
There are plenty more, some probably not a good idea to publish on this blog!  But just imagine listening to a sentence with these words in and trying to understand what the person is on about.

Now more shuttle news - Jane is going to be putting more shuttles in her shop later on this week, would you Adam and Eve it!  Details will be published in her blog tomorrow, this next batch will include the large post shuttles with hooks on.  So go and have a butchers!