I Love Busy

During most of the day, I worked on the newest doily. It's growing slowly, but I still have plenty of time to get it made up. Then about halfway through the day, well no, more like the middle of the afternoon, I got another order in the shop. This time it was a couple of 'choose your color' pendants, so I had some tatting to do after all.

I am seriously getting spoiled by these almost consistent-feeling
sales in my etsy shop. They are allowing me to have tatting to photograph and share on all the social media sites daily, which I think is also helping as advertising too. I am crossing my fingers constantly that this trend holds up. This is one of my Stained Glass Star pendants that was ordered. I had two to make and there were a couple bracelets in the order that I should remake as well.

I even woke up this morning to another order in my shop. Everything in the order is already made and ready to ship, but I will definitely want to remake the pieces from this one as well. All that, plus a check-up today, so I should keep mighty busy. I love busy.

Back and Forth

Saturday morning I stopped to take a picture of the Armenian lace doily, that will be something more some day. It measured 8 inches across at this point. I gave up with the honeycomb stitch after just three rounds. I just wasn't enjoying it and so I went back to plain loops yet again. Then I finally got a small order in my shop, so I had a little tatting to do.

First I worked up this small Threes pendant in black. I couldn't find the one I was suppose to have on hand. If you'd seen my organizational prowess, you would no be surprised by that. Everything is carefully put away in labelled storage boxes...with so many other pieces it's a literal scavenger hunt to find the piece I'm looking for sometimes. This time I gave up, so I made two of the pendant to restock the shop. After that it was a custom Mother's knot pendant, though I didn't stop to get a photo of that one.

Then it was back to the knotting. I had actually also sold a pair of ankle corsets on Friday as well, but I didn't have to remake those as I already had two pairs made. I'm sure when I need a break from knotting I'll get another pair made. I do like to have a back up pair of those so that they can always be listed. After about ten rounds of plain loops I went back to the basket stitch. It's about 10 inches across at this point. The plan is to do three rounds of the basket stitch this time and then back to plain loops. I'll figure out what to do next when I get there. It's been a little more work than I thought to keep the rounds growing at the correct rate to keep the piece laying mostly flat. I've gone through both warped edges when it was slightly too big and curled ones when I hadn't quite grew it enough. It's a balancing act, but it's keeping my busy and on my toes. So that's the plan for my leap day. Not particularly exciting, but at least I'll be busy.

Busy Lace Day

I actually had a pretty busy lace day. I started by catching up with the TIAS. Okay, this is clearly turning into a rabbit. Of course mine has some issues, namely the mismatched eyes, but that's not the point of the TIAS is it? The point for me is to not only make something I would not normally make, but also stretch my skills by translating the pattern instructions to needle. Normally that's a no brainer, but Jane's patterns always seem to have some element that makes me think outside the box a bit and that's a good thing.

Next up was remaking a tatted heart pendant for the shop. It doesn't take long to make this one at all. Of course it took longer than normal to find the right color of thread. My thread box is getting out of control again. No, not because I've ordered more or anything . In fact I can't remember that last time I got new thread. Since the shop so slow I haven't bought any supplies in forever. The thread box is just an unorganized mess.

After this I got an message on facebook requesting a medallion for a fascinator. There was a lot of back and forth on this one and frankly I was fairly certain I had frightened the customer away with my inability to do what was first requested. Eventually we came up with a solution that would work for her needs and I got to work. I still have a couple of rounds left to do and then it will need to be stiffened. This is the larger version of my woven star pattern and I did not write down the outer rounds. It's proven a little fiddly to copy the existing piece since it's sewn to a base currently and I can't turn it over to count. Yes, I know I wouldn't be in this mess if I would just write all of may patterns down. You know that's not going to happen though. Anyway, I should get this finished today and stiffened overnight so I can have it in the post tomorrow. So I should have a nice busy lace day today too.

This and That

I started out yesterday with day 3 of the TIAS. Nope, still don't know what it is and boy does Jane love split rings. I actually already ran out of thread and had to tie off and add more. This is one of the few needle tatting downsides I freely admit to. Doesn't mean I'm picking up a shuttle anytime soon though.

After that it was more reading and I got an order for a pendant, so I had something else that needed tatting up. This is my bleeding heart motif. I've made a smaller version as earrings and used it to create a choker necklace as well. I named it that because of the flower by the way, not an actual heart. The pendant version hangs from a short lock chain, another technique that's probably easier, or at least less time consuming with the shuttle. I like doing lock chains though, they add such an interesting texture to a piece.

I also made up a second black start motif yesterday, I'm toying with the idea of joining them together like quilt pieces, but I've no idea what I would do with the end result. More likely I'll find a way to turn it into a bracelet or necklace. That's usually what I go to first anyway. I guess we'll just see how the day goes and if the muses are about or not.

Tassel, Again

There was more reading yesterday and more television watching, I think I might never catch up, and there was more tatting as well. I decided that I liked the idea of a tassel even if I have little evidence or feedback that it's a good thing, so I proceeded to make the motif again. The tassel has to be made first so I can securely add it like a bead. I also added some smaller motifs to the sides to create a more substantial piece.

The plan is to then add metal chains to those to create the necklace. I could just do a Josephine chain, it would save me using the chain I have on hand, but I like the way things hang on real chain sometimes.

I might not get around to doing that today though. Testing season has arrived around these parts and it starts today with the oldest child's physical fitness test. I have to run her there and back, or stay with her depending on how long it's suppose to take. This is our first year with this one, so I've no idea. Hopefully it will be quick and painless, then I can put together this necklace and I'll have no excuse no to get it up in the shop. Tomorrow she has a special online class for the other testing that is three days next week. I find it amusing that I am stressing out a bit over tests someone else has to take, but what are you going do? Here's to painless testing and maybe some more creative tatting ideas.

Distracted

I got so hopelessly distracted with things yesterday that the number of things I forgot to do was staggering. I really have no idea why, but I got distracted by the book I was reading, finished it, but lost track of time. I got distracted by the kids outing, forgot to mail something. I got distracted watching recorded shows, I forgot, well...everything else I meant to do.

The only thing I managed to tat up was a slightly larger version of the Mermaid Tail. I changed some stitch counts as well, but mostly, it's just one row bigger. The idea I was testing out was to see if I made a larger one with smaller ones on the side, would it become a choker necklace? I still have some more work before I can answer that question though. Since I was so very distracted I obviously didn't get past this one bit.

Hopefully the weekend will be inspiring or profitable or maybe just a little more focused. I keep having that feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop and the fear that the other shoe is a bad, bad shoe. I've got no discernible reason for this feeling, but it's wearing on me none the less. So here's to the other shoe being much better than I am imagining it to be.

Listed

After schooling I again decided to stall for a while. For some reason I just cannot convince myself to get straight to work once my first job of the day is wrapped. Eventually I pulled myself together and made the final Mermaid Tale in variegated thread. I used Lizbeth Caribbean since it was the most watery feeling one I have on hand. Then I got to work putting them all on chains and getting the listing ready. The complaint for today is that the new 'Photos' app for my computer no longer has the black matte that I've been using for years to give my photos a unifying feel. So I kind of feel like the listing pictures are naked.

Despite the photo annoyance, I did get the current set of necklaces listed in my shop. I did try to think about what else might be done with this design, but nothing really gelled in my head. I know that there is something else, but I guess I need to think about it some more first. Also I just wanted to apologize about yesterday's rant, I do realize that I should be flattered that people like my designs well enough to want to make them themselves. I do absolutely appreciate that. I suppose it's the immediacy of the request that puts me off. It's not magic, it's a lot of work and I guess I would prefer being asked if I might write up the pattern in the future. No matter though, it'll definitely be quite some time before I release any more patterns for sale.

The shop has remained quite dead for some time, so I have no other projects in queue. Hopefully those ideas about what else to do with this piece will come together and I'll have something new to work on, but I'm not counting my chickens. I'm just hoping for a nice disaster free day.

Mermaid Tail

There was quite a bit of stalling yesterday after schooling the kids. I'm not entirely certain why, but I just didn't want to do, well, anything. After lunch though, I buckled down and got to work. I had two design problems to solve, making a tassel and securely attaching said tassel. I figured out the tassel pretty quickly, it wasn't particularly hard, it was just something I'd not really done aside from the occasional sad one on the end of a bookmark. I wanted to make sure this one would look good as jewelry. Once I had one made, I knew I just didn't want to tie it on. I decided to add a tight loop to the top so I join join it into the piece like a second tatted element. It seems to have worked well.

After I popped some chains on it, I was hankering to try it with different colors partly just for the practice. Mermaid green was suggested as a color, so not being certain what green would be considered 'mermaid', I used a hand dyed green I've had for ages. After that I grabbed a Victorian red to try as well. Neither of those have chains yet, so that's on deck for today. The green suggestion did give me a name for the piece though. It is clearly a Mermaid Tail.

As soon as I posted the finished piece on my facebook page, I got asked if the pattern was available for sale. I guess I just find it crazy that the minute I finish making something new, someone thinks I've already created a printed pattern for it. Man, that step takes forever and come on, can't I just have the creation to myself for a bit. Okay, rant over.

I should get these finished up and in the shop today unless something else interesting happens. I might even make it in another color before I do, maybe variegated. I actually enjoy making the piece, split chains not withstanding and it might be neat to see what a variegated tassel looks like, or it could be horrifying. I guess the only way to know is to try it out.

Whew

Well. I had a pretty eventful Tatting Day. There weren't as many pendant orders as there have been in the past. One year I remember having to use a box to hold all the packages going out, but I did do better than last year. I had finished all the pendants ordered before I went up for the evening, that's the picture here, but I got a couple more orders late.  I have a few more to tat up today before the whole lot goes out. Thanks so much  to all of you that picked up a pendant or a pattern! If you missed it, they will still be in the shop, but the one day pricing is now over.

After I get these all done, it's back to the custom order I got in the day before. I'm almost finished with the necklace in the order and then it will be out in the post too. It's been a busy few days and I've quite enjoyed it. The rest of the week will continue to be busy regardless of what tatting tasks I have though. I've got my youngest daughter's birthday followed by her party the next day. Then of course the day after is Easter and the week after is Spring Break for the kids. The husband is also taking some time off which mean there will be adventuring. Honestly I'm getting a little tired just thinking about all of this. For now though I'll focus on the tatting. The house cleaning, entertaining, and adventuring are still a day away.

Threes

Though it really didn't feel like it at the time, I suppose yesterday was a fairly productive day. I made up a final, and not surprisingly black version of the new pendant. I named it Threes because of the two sets of three rings it contains...I know, super clever. It's in the shop now as well as the message that I'll be sending one of these out with every order over $10 through the 25th. The only thing that doesn't count toward that is patterns since they don't get shipped.

Once that was done it was onto finishing the gift snowflakes. They all got sparkled, hung on hooks, bagged up and ready to be added to the gifts. Of course there was a lot of sitting about waiting for each side to dry, so I used that time to make a few of the pendants up just in case the free gift offer actually does encourage a few more sales.

Then I thought about riding out the rest of the day vegetating on the couch, but I was already in a bit of a production mode. I decided to go ahead and play with the motif and see if it could be made into a bracelet at least. It's usually pretty easy to take a nice round piece and link them together. The trick is that they need to be the right size to make a wearable bracelet. It seemed to work out, but I think it might be missing something. Maybe it's because I needed four of the motifs and even numbers assault my senses. Whatever the reason, I think I'm going to try to work a border of some kind around this and see if that pulls it together better. If it does, you'll see it again soon. If not, this is last you'll see of it. I'm just glad to be starting another day with a tatting plan in place. Here's hoping that this is just the beginning of a trend.

A Small New

No giant news from the weekend, but I did get up to something. I had decided to augment some of the gifts we were giving with a tatted something. I decided to go with a small snowflake and I was lazy enough to go and just use an existing pattern by anyone else, but I couldn't find one I liked that was the right degree of easy and interesting. I found one close on I think, a Polish site, so I started with it and changed it until I really liked it and that's what I made. They worked up fast, which is what I hoped and while I worked I thought maybe without the arms it would make a cute asymmetric pendant. That's what the picture is, not the snowflake, but the pendant born from it. I don't like to share photos of things I'm gifting until after they've been gifted. Not that many people I know in real life will actually read this, but still.

So today's projects are, finish the snowflake gifts with sparkle and hooks, then work up a final pendant piece and perhaps get it in the shop. I'm also going to be putting one of them in every non-pattern etsy order I get from now until Christmas. Though I won't put an announcement in the shop about it until I have it listed as a sale item. It really feels nice to have finally made something new, even if it is small. Maybe I'll see what else can be done with the basic motif, or maybe not. It really is too soon to tell if creativity or lazy malaise will win the week. At least it's starting on an upswing.

Well, I Did Something

Yesterday was supposed to be a nice, lazy day, but apparently I am incapable of really doing that when I'm suppose to. Instead of sitting about I did laundry and the dishes, I went outside to pull weeds and we managed to do a little schooling as well. Then when I finally did sit down I couldn't stop trying to come up with something to make.

Then I remembered that I had not yet made the Celtic motherhood knot motif I created for a friend for the shop. Of course I couldn't find any of my prototypes and it's been just long enough that I could quite remember all my very carefully thought out stitch counts. Also, I only had very small pictures of it so stitch counting was almost impossible. All that being said, I managed to recreate the design and get it in the shop.

I should really make it in a few more color variations for illustrative purposes, so if I can't think of anything better to tat up today, I guess I'll do that. I might even attempt to create a pattern for it. It's quite small, but the weaving of the design can be a bit tricky. It also has a tendency to look like you've made a mistake until it's been pulled tight and finished. So I guess the emphasis is on might here. We'll just see what the day brings.

Done and Done

I certainly was busy yesterday, but it was mostly with decorating for Halloween. To be honest most of our decor could already pass for a holiday decoration, but we have so much more hidden away that is a bit much for everyday, unless you mean every day of October. I did manage to complete a few other tasks though.

This is the final pendant for a friend. I had to change the stitch count a bit from the prototype because as you might know, each color of thread is ever so slightly different in size, I assume it's because of the different dyes used. This means that sometimes the thread I use for prototyping doesn't translate perfectly to the finished piece. Usually that makes little difference, but this piece needs to be fairly exact in proportions to work. I'm thinking about offering it in the shop as well, as either a piece or pattern, or both, but I haven't decided. I'd love to hear your thoughts. It seems a bit simple for a sale pattern, well the weaving's not simple, but still, it's small.

In other news I finished the altered cross stitch. It too could be a Halloween decor, but no. Once I find a proper frame it'll go up on the wall. The bloody spiderwebs were harder than I thought they would be. Of course in the end it was me over thinking it and trying to graph them out. Eventually I just started stitching and they came out fine. I kind of wish I actually had more of these old sampler kits to muck with, but this was the last one I was gifted and I can't spend money on silliness.

I did have one sale yesterday, my cat ear headband. That leaves me down to only one left on hand, so it's time for some more assembly line creation of them. They seem to sell in little bursts, so it's wise for me to have more than one made up. I guess that's what I'll work on this weekend and hopefully the sales based distractions continue.

Knotting

I managed to stay pretty busy yesterday with the my cross stitch, for the most part. I finished the saying in the center, then started looking for some small designs to add to it. I settled on this quirky looking skull and a simple spider. I added them to both sides, you know, for symmetry. I also added a bit of black, after this photo, to the border to help tie the black in. I thought I was finished, but the husband has suggested that I add some spider webs next to the spiders, so I'm going to play with that idea today. It's been really fun to turn something so 80's classic cross stitch into something I can hang on a wall.

Later in the afternoon I got a request for a design from a friend. This so rarely happens, that I went straight to work on it. She sent me a picture of a Celtic motherhood knot and I tried to make it happen. The first go, I clearly miscalculated the stitch counts needed to maintain the proper shape. Though I got the weaving part down making it, so it's wasn't a complete waste of time.

Next up I increased the stitch counts dramatically and I really started to worry about the integrity of the longer chains, but once weaved together, they seemed to behave properly. This version was approved and today I'm making the final piece in her chosen colors. So all in all pretty good, creative day. I got to make new things in two different crafts and I received a sale in the shop, so I also have something I can remake today. Here's hoping today is a repeat of yesterday.

Star Flower

On Friday I got far more creative than I had intended. I had already finished the bulk of the cleaning the house needed and I found myself with an idea of something to create. While woven, or Celtic tatting can be a pain in the neck with the needle, because of the long lengths of loose thread needed, I was in the mood to create more of it.

This was actually the second version as I had done the first in all black. Unfortunately, it really does need two colors so you can see the different elements intertwined. After this one I just kept going and eventually added a small lock chain loop to one of the outside joins so it could be a proper pendant.

I got them listed in the shop on Saturday after some family adventuring. It was pointed out that in red and white it looks like a Tudor Rose and I concur, but I also noticed that the rings also form a star in the center, so I named it Star Flower. There is a slight chance I'll work it into a lapel pin as well, but only free time will tell.

Speaking of which, if I do get some free time I might work up the pattern to sell or share. I'm not certain yet, so don't quote me. Due to some pattern sharing/selling drama in the not so distant past, I had really thought about not doing any more ever. I don't like the added stress it brings to my life, but I actually had the thought when making this one, so maybe I'm over it...for the time being. Again, I really don't know because homeschooling is about to start back up and that takes precedence over everything, but I guess I wanted to share that I was even thinking about it.

One last day off before schooling starts and we have eye doctor appointments. Then I need to really get the school area ready to go and hopefully sneak a little time for more star flower tatting. Here's to a busy week ahead.

I Cleaned

I listed the newest tatted jellyfish fairly early yesterday. I also worked up the requisite snowflake for the day and then I couldn't think of a thing to do. I sat listless for a short time before I made the decision to clean the house. I'm calling it the end of summer cleaning since I had no other real reason to do it. I mean yes, I clean a little all the time, but this was the full blown rubber gloves sort of cleaning and I thoroughly regret my decision.

Toward the end of the afternoon, when all the cleaning I was going to do was done, I used the smaller gray thread from the jellyfish to make a pendant out of the first two rounds of my jellyfish bell. I'm still deciding whether or not it will make it into the shop. The gray thread is size 20 which I don't have as many color options of on hand, but I think the design might be a bit too big in my usual size 10. I did have to make a few stitch changes so it would lay flat, but I really like the joins for this so I wanted to try the pendant.

I still don't have any orders in queue. I did get one last night, but I had been expecting it and had already made the piece over the weekend. So I guess it's a snowflake and then listlessness on tap for today, unless either something interesting comes up or I get visited by the muses. Either will work.

Colorful

Yesterday was a a complete wash tatting wise. The only thing I did was take a picture of the Woven Rose motif in colors and post it to share. I had already decided that I wasn't going to list it in the shop. It was just far too colorful and I figured it would never sell. Just in case though, I posted that if anyone wanted it, they could make me an offer. I didn't think anyone would, but lo and behold, it is going off to a new home today. I suppose I forget that not everyone is allergic to wearing too much color like I am. I'm still not going to make one like it for the shop, too many color possibilities to ever list properly, but do message me if you want a three color woven rose.

Other than that though, all I did was go out with the kids. We went and saw Maleficent and they went swimming at the in-laws house while I sat there doing nothing much. Only two more lazy days left in the week. I've already decided that next week our new summer schedule will kick in. It will include exercise for the kids, some sort of educational project and then I will get back to working the afternoon away. Maybe by then I'll have been inspired to actually make something new. If not, I just dig into the old catalog and bring back something old in a new way.

Grays

I managed to do almost nothing yesterday save for the ongoing battle with the ants for ownership of the house. Their numbers appear to be dwindling so I'm hoping I did find their point of ingress and the ones left are merely those left in the walls. With such a long, hot summer ahead, this won't be the last war though.

Well, I did get a few tatting things done during the day. I had an order of earrings that needed to be made in a medium charcoal gray, one of my favorite colors that isn't black. Every time I share these, someone asks for the pattern. The problem with that is, I don't want to share patterns that are worked around certain hardware like ear posts or ring bases because size matters with the design. Plus these contain my somewhat strange method of attachment that is kinda hard to explain through writing and pictures.I guess what I'm trying to say is, it is terribly unlikely that I will be doing so anytime soon.

The only other things I tatted were a couple of Woven Rose motifs in a couple of different thread configurations. This one was done in the Lizbeth Twirlz thread that is currently only available in size 20 so it's smaller than my usual work. Threading this stuff after working with it for awhile is also a little fiddly, but I do love the way it looks. I also made one with a yellow and salmon center and an azalea pink outer layer in n attempt at making it into a flower. Of course I did forget to get a picture of that one. I was starting to get a case of the malaise at this point in the day. I think it might have been a combination of the heat, something I ate and the generally lack of anything exciting to make. I really miss the shop being even a little busy. I'm afraid today will be even more malaise inducing unless something unexpected happens, so here's to the unexpected.

International Tatting Day

Those of you you've been around awhile are probably aware that today is International Tatting Day. To those new around these parts, I assure you that while it is unfortunately timed, it is in fact real. The traditional celebration ritual is of course to tat some lace and eat some chocolate. Clearly this is a holiday that is easy to get behind.

What may be slightly less traditional, is my own personal celebration ritual. For that last few years I've been designing a pendant to sell at a very low price for this day only and more recently the pattern as well. I hope that by offering a small bit of lace cheaply, it can fly to new people exposing tatting to more places. I also hope that by offering the pattern, those that already practice our art can create something new to share with others as well.

Both listings are up in the shop now. They will continue to be available after today, but the price of the pendant will double tomorrow, the 2nd. As usual, the pendant is available in any thread color I have on hand. I'll be making them to order so, depending on the number of pendants that sell, it may take up to a week to get them all out. I wanted to design an infinity pendant, but it's rather too easy, so I went for a Double Infinity and wove them together. I also wanted the piece to have a distinct widening shape, and a small focal of beads. No, it's not overly intricate, but I think it makes a nice pendant.

The pendant listing is here or click on the picture above. The pattern is here, or click on the image to the right. The pattern is written for needle tatting, though I'm certain that it can be accomplished with shuttle as well. I can't really help with that though as you know me and the shuttle have a long standing grudge.

Well, that's it then. I really hope that you like the piece. I'm a bit nervous about it for some reason. So, do share these links around, or at least share tatting with someone new. Wear some lace around or sit at tat at the mall with some of that afore mentioned chocolate. April may be fooling folks right and left online, but International Tatting Day has chocolate and lace and I think that might be better.

Weekend Recap

Anytime my routine is altered, I am reminded how much of a creature of habit I really am. I mean, honestly I'm pretty flexible and I can go with the flow, but I am just so much more comfortable when things go as I supposed. While we did manage to get a few of the usual errands in and a couple of family walks, it was mostly just me and girls. I'm actually surprised that I didn't go mad after all the Lego battles/arguments and the lack of anything too pressing to get tatting. I did remake a couple of pieces and we watched Pushing Daisies, but that was pretty much it.

As for tatting, I worked on adjusting my dream catcher design for a custom order and that's the only slightly original work I did. The customer requested just 9 petals, so I did math to work out how to make that happen. It's always a little more fiddly when you have a solid object involved so the stitch count must stay within a very small range to work. Luckily it worked out with very little stress. Though when I went to purchase more rings, I was disappointed to learn that the same ones I have been getting, changed. They had always been closed or soldered together and now they are open rings, so I spent some time sealing them together myself. I can work around them the other way, but it 's much more delicate work to make certain the stitches don't slip though at the break.

The thread to make this custom order should, theoretically be in today some time. Once it arrives, I expect this work to take me at least a few days as there are many pieces involved. This makes me very happy.

In other news I woke up to a sale of two pieces which means just one more sale until that magical number 3000. I'm crossing my fingers that it occurs soon, so I can bask in it for a little while. Oh, and when it does occur, I'll be posting a giveaway post. I have several pieces to give away, so it should be a good time for all.