Monday, June 30, 2014

Not Solved But Circumvented

Yesterday I accidentally put the 'box' part of the laptop charger on the table instead of the floor where it usually goes. And the laptop kept going, didn't keep turning itself off. I realise that the problem is still there, but if this enables me to use the laptop, that's great, I shall put the box on the table and carry on regardless.
A while ago, I saw a knitted stitch on Le Blog de Frivole that I really liked. Frivole kindly sent me the instructions to knit Twisted Waffle Stitch. I knitted a swatch, attached a note of the instructions and put it in my knitting file. I've been wondering how I could use it in a cardigan, but really it's too open for that. But when I needed a gift for a neighbour's next grandchild, I decided a small blanket in Twisted Waffle Stitch would be just the thing. In my handspun wool, of course. I knitted squares in waffle stitch, with garter stitch strips in between. Knitted all in one, because I'm not keen on sewing squares together. It should be light and warm for the new baby.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Computer Woes Continued

Right. Well. The friendly computer man says he doesn't know whether it's the battery or the computer itself that is causing a problem. Six months ago I thought I was doing 'the right thing' by replacing the battery. Perhaps not. Now the warranty has expired and another battery is too expensive to just install willy nilly in case it is the problem. I'm advised to carry on and hope for the best. Not very satisfactory, but there you go.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Computer Woes

My computer is not working properly. I am hoping that my friendly computer man in town will be able to sort it out for me. But I had to leave it to be collected next trip to town so will be MIA for a week or so.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Ari's Bracelets

Every week Keep-and-Share send me a report of how many people have looked at the PDF versions of my patterns during the week. I'm always surprised! Looking at them is one thing, but does anyone actually use the patterns? They do. These are Ari's lovely bracelets, made using my Split Ring Bracelet pattern.

 Ari belongs to tatting groups on Facebook and InTatters, where she has shown her work, always careful to say that I was the designer and put links to this blog or the pattern. That's how is should be done, thank you Ari.

Fluff

One of the reasons I didn't tat for years when I was immersed in spinning and knitting was fluff. When you convert this
to this
you generate fluff. Wool is  not quite as bad as mohair, but even so I find fluff on my clothes, my furniture, my sandwiches.... And my tatting thread. I've been tatting by day and spinning during the evenings, which is wonderful, but if I'm going to do that I have to accept that my dragons are probably fluffier than dragons should be!

Monday, June 16, 2014

Very Small Dragons

 I used size 60 thread this time to tat L. Shelby's dragons. The ecru thread is a trifle boring, so I added a bead to the centre ring of each dragon, as well as the beads in the pattern. The pattern is on InTatters and Craftree.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Linda's First Doily

Linda came for a tatting session on Thursday. I won't say 'lesson' because she didn't need much teaching! She had made the final join on the Clover and Daisy Doily by Emma Crew in the wrong place and then been baffled as to where the mistake was. She had cut the thread, but I was able to spot the mistake, undo the wrong join and finger tat the correct join. Voila, the doily just needs to be washed and pressed. Linda says to tell you I'm not giving her enough tatting treats! I did give her a Stumpy Bookmark.

I had an idea for the dragon earrings this morning: how about putting a bead in the centre of the middle ring? I tatted a ring in size 60 thread to see what size bead I'd need, and then searched my memory for the method I learnt from Jane Eborall's technical pages , putting the bead on the core thread.  It took me a few goes to get right, but now I think I'm ready to try it out on a dragon.


Friday, June 13, 2014

More Dragons

 I used size 40 thread to make dragon earrings. They're bigger than I expected, not much smaller than the pendant made in size 20 thread. Hmmm. I have finer thread in ecru. I'll try using that and adding more beads. I thought of adding beads between the rings, but that might alter the shape of the wings too much. Experimentation required. The pattern, in case you didn't see it yesterday, is by L. Shelby, Lavenderbard on InTatters.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Here Be Dragons

 L. Shelby has only been tatting for a few months, but has invented this dragon pendant! When she showed it on InTatters, there was a call for the pattern, which she kindly provided as a diagram. In the notes to the diagram, she said that it was tricky to get the tail join neat. In spite of her warning, my effort looks messy and horrible. So I did the second one, on the right in the picture, starting at the tip of the tail instead of the base of the tail. I used L. Shelby's stitch count as before, but to me the proportions don't look right any more. This morning I tatted a 'false tail', just to try it out without retatting the whole dragon:
Is that better?

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

More Hats

 The hat on the right is 'Vine Lace Baby Hat' designed by Sandi Wiseheart. I added a couple of pattern repeats to make it bigger. I used up all the green/blue wool but felt the hat was a little skimpy, so I crocheted an edging and added flowers to link to the edging. The flowers are Forget-me-not flowers from Little Treasures. The stripy hat I made up as I went along, using both handspun and commercial yarns.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Optical Illusion

 It's interesting how the eye turns quite short colour changes into definite stripes. This pattern is Horseshoe Cap designed by Janet Wray, from Interweave Press.

Monday, June 9, 2014

Whorls of Colour



Wool spun, plyed, washed, dyed, wound into balls and ready to be knitted.

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Not My Idea of Fun

Yesterday Jack and I spent the whole day, 8 am to 5 pm, wandering around a shopping mall in Bloemfontein while our car was in the garage for a service. It's a sleek and modern shopping mall, with millions of things for sale that I don't need or want. There are no tatting shuttles or bright threads. No knitting yarns or crochet hooks. No fabrics or interesting buttons. Not  my sort of place at all!

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Tatting for Boys

Fox pointed out (or The Little Brother pointed out) that tatted gifts shouldn't just be for girls. The tat-it-and-see yacht is off to my grandson, adorning a bag for marbles. I had the idea when Jane Eborall completed the TIAS, but it took me a while to find the marbles!

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Sewing

I've been sewing winter skirts. I don't know why it is that when I'm working on simple sewing projects I have a tendency to make stupid mistakes! I was so intent on matching the stripes on the second skirt that I sewed the seam wrong side together instead of right sides together. Drat. Nothing for it but to get out the quick-unpick. The red material on the side is the lining for stripy skirt. I lined both skirts to give them more weight and warmth.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Dragonfly Socks

 A selfie! These are Dragonfly Socks, designed by Jocelyn Sertich. I found the pattern on Ravelry. You can see the dragonfly wings, can't you?