#8 !

Here is a picture of grandbaby #8.
Matthew William
19.5"
8lbs, 8oz
born 11/10/08
All are doing well.

I have not posted for a whiles because all tatting that I am doing is for Christmas presents, and the recipients might check this blog, so no pics for a while.

I have also been busy with the new grandchildren.
Izabell Rose was baptized this past Sunday. and now
Matthew has been born.
I am at my daughter's babysitting the 2 older children for a couple of days until she comes home and I will stay for at least 1 day. Then back again this weekend to help while her husband finishes getting the deer he shot last weekend into the freezer.

Happy Tatting to all.
ladytats

more, more, gimme more

My mailman brought me some goodies today. Clyde the mad tatter (see his link to the right) was talking about how he feels about HDT and I certainly understand his feelings. I have a problem resisting HDT myself. I really need to tat my little fingers off to use it all up.


I found another seller on etsy.com offering HDT thread - http://www.kreativekitties.etsy.com/



#1 is size 10 in a rainbow colorway.
#2 is I think size 20
#3 is also size 20
#4 is I think a size 30


I really like the colors and the thread feels nice in my fingers. The scan doesn't do the colors justice. the background is actually a sheet of white printer paper, not gray or blue. so the colors are a bit skewed

I am looking forward to using this thread.

The weather here lately has been absolutely soggy. rain, rain, rain, we got the soybeans combined, but the corn is just sitting there not getting dry enough to combine and it is getting later and later in the season, we sould be half done or better by now. A freeze won't help, we need some dry weather to get the crops in the bin. The ground is so wet, the fields are just mud, some places the corn is standing in water. I am sure that God has his reasons, maybe it will be very dry next year and the only good thing is all the moisture that is being stored in the ground this fall, or maybe not.

happy tatting
ladytats

A Bunch of Rosaries and 25 motif challenge

I have been off my blog for the past 10 days.

during that time I have tatted 5 rosaries. Ombre purple, lavender, pink, green, multi.

I started last weekend at the Marian Eucharistic Congress. I was able to tat almost 2 per day. until the last day, when I decided to make a multi colored one. That one is pictured here.

I used the shoelace trick between the split rings and changed colors on the Our Father rings. Other wise it is my basic Rosary pattern.

This rosary took me all week to sandwich in between other things.

I was tatting the rosaries during the talks, and many people came up to me to ask what I was doing. I gave several small quick demonstrations during breaks. All the rosaries except this one were given away on the spot. This one has a designated recipient as well.

I am adding the 5 rosaries to my 25 motif challenge as 1 item, since I don't have pictures to show of all of them.

I am hoping that this week will be more productive for tatting as I need to get the Christmas Presents done.

too much life and not enough time, so off to bed for me.
Happy Tatting
Ladytats

Finished!

Hi All,

The 4th T.I.A.S is finished and here is my version. I am also counting this as #18 of my 25 Motif Challenge.

And to top it off, I was right. Sherry has announced that it is a lighthouse bookmark. A couple of weeks ago near the beginning of this process I emailed a guess to Ladyshuttlemaker that what we were making was a lighthouse as the 2 clues she gave were - Knotical and Illuminating.

She didn't let anyone know if they had the right anwer until now.

my lighthouse is a bit lopsided as it is not blocked yet. I was in too much of a hurry to get it posted to spend the time to wet it and wait for it to dry, or to steam it and wait for it to cool. I only use the steam method if it needs just a bit of blocking, the lighthouse bookmark above needs a lot of blocking so I will get it wet, roll it in a towel to remove any excess moisture, then lay it out on my blocking board, pin it into shape and let it dry.

my blocking board is a piece of 1" thick styrofoam isulating board covered with an old piece of white cotton sheeting.

This serial tatting puzzle was fun. It is the first one that I have done, but I will be waiting for the next one to show up. Jane Eborall has done the other 3, I wonder who will do the next?

Friday I am taking off work to go to the next largest town for a conference for Directors of Religious Ed for church and then attend at least some if not all of the Marian Eucharistic Congress. What a blessing to be able to attend these events. Because of getting ready for this trip and being gone most of the weekend, I don't expect to get much of any tatting done until next week. I will take a project with me, the last time I attended a Marina Eucharistic Congress, I did some tatting during some of the speechs. I can focus on what they are saying much easier if my fingers are busy, and tatting rosaries is so easy.

Happy Tatting

Ladytats

step 11

Here is step 11.



I tatted all day today at the Uff-da day celebration in Rutland, a small town about 30 miles from me.
This is the 4th year that I have been there. I met another tatter!! Yippee!
we talked abit and I will be emailing her in a day or so as I get things squared away.

Tired and not feeling well - I have had a sore throat most of the day, so this is the end of this post.

Happy tatting
Ladytats

Step 10

Here is step 10

I am more intrigued then ever. The shape seems familiar, but I can't place what it is.

step 9 and hdtv

just a short quick note.
I have changed my title above, I used the website http://glowtxt.com/ to format the font for the title.
hope you like it. Gina introduced it on her blog.

I haven't posted lately as I have been quite busy with non-tatting items and a very big tatting project that I can't show or talk about as it is meant for someone who reads this blog from time to time.

The non-tatting items, include bowling on Monday nights, Tuesday working on the lesson that I taught on Wednesday to the CCD class of 8th graders. I was able to tat a bit tonight and hopefully catch up the TIAS tomorrow night, Friday and Saturday will be taken up with normal housework and getting my tatting display and other items ready for the tatting demonstration at Rutland's Uff Dah dayz on Sunday.

Here is step 9 for the TIAS 4, it is still a puzzle.

on the subject of HDTV, the new antenna came today.

DH is busy combining beans, and the crew that will erect the new bin was here late today prepping the site to pour concrete tomorrow. So I don't know if we will be getting the antenna up right away.

Happy tatting

Ladytats

steps 7&8 and more hdtv saga

In my previous post I mentioned that I was getting behind.
Ladyshuttlemaker had already decided to take the weekend off to allow everyone to catch up. Which was really nice of her, but I realize it was actually for my benifit. Go Sherry.
What really helped me was the Presidential debate tonight.
I was able to start and finish step 7

and to start and finish step 8 as well.

I have changed Sherry's pattern twice now. not in any appreciable way, but I didn't like the color dot that occured when doing a lock join with the yellow core thread when doing the pink chains, so I used a Catherine wheel join to eliminate them. I used the Catherne Wheel join in the previous step where the color dot would have shown as well. I like the CW join and it works well is certain situations. If you are un familiar with a CW join, it is the same stitch you use when doing a split chain. You can find the directions on the snowgoose lace shop website http://www.snowgoose.cc/friv/cath_wheel.htm

on another note, we have ordered the multi-directional tv antenna that promises to reach more then 70 miles (it better reach 82 miles) to the tv stations that are considered "local" in our area.
I will let you know how it turns out.

Happy tatting
Ladytats

TIAS 4 step 6, short post

I haven't been able to do much tatting the last couple of days.

Bowling monday night and a Deanery Pastoral Council meeting on Tuesday night, Wednesday and tonight I had to get my meeting minutes and attendance records typed up and sent off to the Dean's office.

I have managed to get Step 6 done for the TIAS 4. I will check Sherry's blog, but I suspect that step 8 is posted, so I will still be 2 steps behind.

I did stay late at work today and printed out some pictures of tatting that I have done lately but given away so that I will have more examples of my work to show when I demonstrate tatting at Uff Dah dayz next month.

Happy Tatting

Ladytats

step 5, today's doily and HDTV saga

I have been able to keep up with T.I.A.S #4 and here is step 5. I have emailed a guess to Sherry, will see how I do.





Today, DH, another couple & myself traveled 4 hours to the Metrodome and watched the Vikings get their first win of the season. YEAH!





During the drive I had plenty of tatting time, so here is the 1st & 2nd rounds of a doily. The thread is size 10 Picasso (a 8 cord thread) in Ladyshuttlemaker's Peach Pandorea. It looks a bit "messy" as I hide the thread ends but do not cut them until I am done. This is a nice thread to use, it works up well and handles well. the only drawback that I can see is that it is a loosely twisted thread, so you need to be careful to catch all of the thread when joining or retro-tatting. I counted ds and there are approximately the same #ds in the rings and in the chains, the only difference are the picots in the chains. I was able to wind around 5yds on each bobbin for the shuttle that I used today. I used 2 bobbins for these 7 motifs. That tells me that I have used about 20yds of thread for ds and some additional for the picots. Since the skein of thread contained about 50yds, I should have enough thread to add a 3rd round of 6 motifs to this doily. As to pattern, it is a simple 6 ring & chain flower motif. I don't know if there is a pattern, and I certainly will not claim this as mine. The rings are 8-8 and the chains are 2ds(-2ds)X7 motifs are joined to the 4th picot in the chain of the corresponding motif based on your layout.





Now on to the Saga of HDTV.


If you have read the previous posts, you will know that we have been able to receive a much greater variety of stations on the HDTV channels. Unfortunately, they fade in and out a lot. So DH went to town on Friday, talked to the local appliance dealer and bought a different antenna. This one cost about $200 and didn't really look any different then our 20yr old original antenna. We went up the roof on Friday night, and took down the $60 antenna from the farm supply store in the nearest big city and installed the expensive one.
Reception was worse.
Saturday morning I went back on the Internet to see what other information I could find. I found a very informative article on this site http://tinyurl.com/3s7n3h newly updated as of 09/05/08

There are a couple of other links in the article to help you find your location and the location of any stations in your area. It helps to find out where the station towers are located and how far away they are. We discovered that we have been trying to use a uni-directional antenna and we need a multi-directional antenna and the towers we receive signals from are located up to 85 miles from us. So we will be returning both of the new antennas that we bought.


So far it looks like the only place to get the one we need is to order from the Internet. Here is 1 site that I found http://www.antennasdirect.com/ it has many different types of antennas and they are offering free shipping for the rest of the month. We haven't yet ordered, and will do some more searching, but this one at least earned a bookmark.



Possible severe thunderstorm coming, so need to close this down.
Happy Tatting,
Ladytats

chapter 2 in the saga of digital tv

Chapter 2
This morning I ran the set up for the channel search again. The digital box found several more channels.
19-1,2&3
10-1,2&3
9-1 through6

Many are repeats of other stations.
After work today, dh and I went back up to the roof, took down the new antenae and added the old antennae pointed in almost the opposite direction, and connected the 2, that was supposed to strenthen the signal.
Tonight, we can get only 6-1,2&3 15-1 and 13-1,2&3 all the rest have no signal, it is partly to mostly cloudy outside.
It looks like if we want some consistancy in reception we will have to invest in a booster. Another thing to take up electricity.
Why oh why does the government think this is a good idea.
All those channels sound like a great idea versus the 4 we used to get, except we can't count on being able to receive any of them at any given time. I refuse to pay for satelite service and cable is out of the question this far out in the country.
Tomorrow, dh is going to go back up on the roof, and see if he can move the direction of the old antenae a bit.

Happy Tatting
Ladytats

Step 4 of T.I.A.S

Here is my attempt at step 4 for the T.I.A.S

Sherry asked for a light color, a medium color and a dark color. Well, I didn't have the 3 shades in the same color, so I have had to make do with 3 different colors in different shades. It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

Now I bring you some frustration in the world of government mandated changes. Anyone not interested in digital tv can stop reading at this point.

normally in the non digital world of television we can view any one of the follow channels
4 CBS
6 ABC
11 NBC
13 PBS
15 FOX

After buying the digital boxes about 2 months ago, we hooked them up and were only able to find channel 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 and nothing else.

After several attempts, much frustration and the expense of buying a new tv antennae, which by the way we put up this past Sunday in very windy conditions, and we pointed it northeast as opposed to pointing it northwest as it was before. we could still only get the 3 stations on channel 6.

well, you will never guess what we found out.

you would assume that channel 4 in analog would be channel 4 in digital right. and 11=11 and so on.

au contraire my lebchen

channel 19=15-1
channel 21= 6-1, 6-2, 6-3
channel 23=13-1, 13-2, 13-3
channel 38=4
channel 44=11-1

soooo....... on a good reception day, we get 9 different shows, well 8 because 13-1 and 13-2 are the same, just one is full screen and 1 is cropped. (don't ask me why, it just is)

And we have been told, and tonight experienced a bit, that there will be times that we won't get anything on this channel or that one or maybe all of them. we may need a booster as we are located so far from the tv towers.

we may even reattach the old antennae below the new antennae, hook it up to the new one and point it south west, there is supposed to be a channel or 2 that we can get in that direction.

Stay tuned for the saga of the mandated digital tv

T.I.A.S and Challenge

I am posting Motif 16 & 17 for the 25 Motif Challenge and steps 2 & 3 for the TIAS.

Yesterday was our Granddaughter #5's birthday party. They live an hour away. It was a rainy day, and DH wasn't able to do any farming, so he drove which I like, as I could care less about getting behind the wheel, and if he is driving, I can tat. I was able to finish 2 motifs that I had started, but it was a busy day as we had shopping to do as well, so didn't get online last night to post anything so this will be a combo post.

Above is Motif 41 from Patti Duff's Mini Tats in a Manuela size 20 thread. The label has been lost so I don't know what color. I left the tails long, threaded one through a picot and tied the ends so it can be used as an ornament. this is the first thing that I tatted with my GMA purple shuttle. I wasn't too sure about how it turned out, but after wetting and blocking last night, I think it wasn't too bad for tatting on the road.

This is a rosary that I made for a friend of mine at church. It is also size 20 Manuela in colorway 204. This is not blocked, but I usually don't block rosaries, they are intended to be carried in pockets or purses, so I don't feel there is a need for blocking.

I love this color way. There is some left on my shuttles, so I think I will work up a set of earings.

Here are all 3 steps for #4 T.I.A.S. so far Sherry's pattern has lots of block tatting. I think that everyone doing the TIAS will be an expert at block tatting by the time we are finished.

It was very windy today. The last several days have been mostly calm. One of the things we were shopping for yesterday as a new TV antenna for HDTV We have the box, but needed a new antennae as well. We took the old antenna down, and put the new one up during the wind today. not fun on top of the roof, but DH was impatient to get it done. After not falling off the roof, we watched the Vikings lose. The only good thing about that, was I did some more tatting on my companion glass matt. ( see post below with the green & purple motif) This one will be the opposite colors.

Another thing I did tonight was to shorten the sleeves on my turnout coat for the fire department. The smallest one they had pretty much covered my fingers, so after washing it, and hanging it outside to dry, got rained on too, I shortened the sleeves a good 2". Now they won't be in my way so much if I need to actually do first aid at a fire.

midnight. time for bed.
Happy tatting
Ladytats

T.I.A.S #4 Step 1

Here is my beginning for the 4th Tat It And See. I reserve the right to make a guess at what we are tatting as there is not enough clues right now.

I have done block tatting before, but not this method so it was essentially new to me.

This is the first TIAS that I have participated in. So This will be fun and interesting.

I have committed to demonstrating Tatting at Uff Da Days in Rutland, a town about 20 miles south west from me on October 5. It will be the 4th year I have done so. I really should get my act in gear and demonstrate at other area affairs. I never seem to have enough tatting to showcase at these events. I think I will print out pictures of some of the items that I have tatted and given away to fill out my display. I don't keep much tatting around, it always seems to find another home.

Last night was our monthly fire department meeting. Even tho I am attached as a First Responder, and not a certified fireman, I still needed to get outfitted in Turnout Gear. I got a helmet, the only red one in the squad, and a turnout coat a bit too large, but by turning down the cuffs, I can make do. Pants and boots are a bust, nothing will fit. So will have to see what will need to be done about that. for now, I hope that I will not be needed. I am there for first aid for either victims of fires or accidents, as the nearest ambulance is 15-20 miles away depending on where the problem is in the departments area. My goal is to get enough firemen certified as First Responders so we can man a Quick Response unit.

Happy Tatting
Ladytats

Looky, Looky what I got!

Yippee!

Dave Stanbrough from Grizzly Mountain Arts has handcarved a shuttle for me out of Purple Celluloid. not only did he sign and date it, he put my initials in it so when I pass it on many years from now, someone will know whose it was. It is very pretty and feels so smooth in my hand.

Here is his website http://www.grizzlymountainarts.com/ His blog is listed to the right. He has an Etsy.com store and also sells on ebay.com

Dave has graciously allowed me to replace my poor picture of this shuttle with one that he took. Now you can see how great it looks.

My digital camera can't get close enough, and the scan above looks like my scanner needed cleaning, but I tried that, so don't know why it looks hazy. Sorry for the poor pic. It looks so much prettier in your hand.

life has been interfering, so have not yet been able to load it and tat. Can't wait!

Happy Tatting

Ladytats

Enough is enough

I have decided that enough is enough.

I have been gaining weight this summer despite that fact that it is summer. Granted my lovely doctor has told me that I am now menopausal and the weight gain is related to that. It just isn't right.

yes, if I sit down and read a book after work or work on my tatted lace that is sedentary and yes, I sit all day at work. but I have tried to cut down on the calories and still nothing. So the other day when I stepped on the scale and it said 160 [shudder] I said that's it.

The pic above if is of the bike that I bought Friday night. I did a mile and a quarter yesterday (Saturday) but in bits and pieces and today I did a mile in one piece. Now that doesn't sound like much, but for me that is a lot. I have had trouble with my thigh muscles screaming in agony after only a short 1/4 mile and that started years ago, but I attributed that to the bikes being adjusted for my kids when they were younger and shorter. so having toughed it out I feel better about it. All my muscles and joints hurt last night. And it took me until after 5 this afternoon to get up the guts to get out there and get in a ride. I made the dog come with my yesterday and today. big lazy pig that he is, this should help him too.

He is a pure bred blue heeler. he was born with the brown patches over his eye and ear contrary to the normal all white of a blue heeler pup. And they kept telling us he would get more spots as he got older, but by the time he was 6 mos old we knew that he would stay white with sooty smudgy fingerprints along his back like you see. He is a good dog, but like all blue heelers, very intelligent and full of energy, and he just doesn't have enough to do. No kids around anymore, and not as much cattle work since we aren't milking anymore. He was 5 years old this past July. amazing, I can remember picking him up from my daughter when he was just 6 weeks old.

Happy Tatting

Ladytats

#15 Scrunchie

I usually have a take along project with me going places. the latest one is a tatted scrunchie.

I finished it tonight. I know a young girl who I hope will be happy with it, so wanted to get it done.

I tatted it in size 10 HDT by klmattox. It is fine for a utilitarian thread. and you get a lot of it. which is nice as you don't have to worry about running out.

I based my pattern on a scrunchie posted by http://tattingchic.blogspot.com/ . She also mentioned that you do the rings about the rubber band by passing the shuttle through the band while rapping the ring thread around your hand. That was all I needed to get started. I worked out the number of stitches for the rings by trial and error. but it was easy. It took 9ds to make the small rings aroung the band and the larger top rings are 3-3-3-3 I left about 1/4" of space between rings. Basically you are doing a 1 shuttle all ring edging pattern. Even with the size 10 thread, I did 44 sets of rings and used 4 bobbins of thread. I didn't measure the amount of thread that I wound on my shuttle bobbin so can't give you that. I used one of my Silent tatters so the bobbin holds a good deal of thread.

I do know that I can get 9 yards of size 20 thread on a bobbin, so I would think that it took at least 15 yards of thread for the scrunchie.

I am excited about T.I.A.S #4 I have my threads picked out and waiting for the next bit of instructions. to participate in this T.I.A.S go to http://ladyshuttlemaker.blogspot.com/

I have a rather ambitious project in my head that has been popping up for the last couple of weeks. I have been cogitatting on just how to do it. part of it involves some of the beads that I have ordered. I won't say anymore about it at this time, as I need to get a few more things figured out.

Happy tatting

Ladytats

#14 Glass Matt

Here is what I did over the Labor Day weekend.

I would have posted this last night, but we had a thunder and lightning storm and the computer stays off then. We got 2" of badly needed rain out of the storm, so no complaints.

I wrote about the problems that I had with the joins in the posts below.

I have finished the first of 2. This one has purple rings and green chains. I have started the one with green rings and purple chains.

The green thread is Flora size 20 and the purple is Manuela size 20. All together I figure about 33 yards of thread. the finished size is 5.5"

Once I gave up on the joining, it went rather smoothly as long as I paid attention to the number of picots needed in the chains. I retro-tatted more rings and chains on this darn thing. I do not cut out mistakes, I un-stitch them. I almost never have problems opening a ring, so retro-tatting is just time consuming.

I hear that there will be a new TIAS coming soon. Don't know what a TIAS is? Tat It And See. Someone, in this case, Ladyshuttlemaker, develops a pattern and gives out a little bit each day until you are finished. That way you don't know what it is until you are finished. Like a puzzle with no picture to follow.

I believe that I mentioned below that I "went shopping". I bought some clear glass ornaments to tatt covers for to use as Christmas presents. I did some bead shopping as well.

Happy Tatting

Ladytats

Winnie the Pooh's honey tree

Does anyone know how to get in touch with Winnie the Pooh? I think his winter supply of honey is in my yard.

I may have mentioned this in a previous post, but decided to detail it here.

A couple of weeks ago, I was surprised while taking down the laundry to hear a hum that seemed to be coming from an old cottonwood tree near the end of my clothes lines.

I checked it out and discovered that there was a bee hive in a hole about 10-12' above the ground. Obviously that means there is hollow space in the tree. Looking at the picture above, the hole is above and to the left of the left clothes line pole.

Cottonwoods, if you don't know, are notorious for rotting from the inside out. We had 2 of them as big as this or bigger out in the pasture - one of which came down all by itself in a storm, the other one became hollow enough at the bottom that several of the kids could sit inside, so we took that one down before it fell on anything.

The tree above is old (100+) and we had placed it on our list of trees to remove at some point in time. It has now moved to the top of the list. If it came down in a SW wind, it would land on the house. If it came down any direction but south, it would cause harm to other trees, buildings or farm implements. So, after the corn field to the south is combined later this fall this tree will come down. As you can see from the picture, taking this tree down will be a major project. One of the neighbors has agreed to help and it will take a good chunk of time.

The honey will be a nice bonus, but the tree itself will keep us warm as we heat our house with an outside woodstove. We don't waste much of anything. I will feel sorry for the bees, but I will be interested in the honey. It would make an interesting Christmas present for the kids.

we will have to contact a beekeeper to remove the bees before we take down the tree.

It has been an interesting experience with the bees in the yard.

I have watched them quite often and they are so busy.

So... if you know Winnie.... just point him in my direction.

Oh, and the copper colored circle hanging from the clothes line is a double 3-D Butterfly spinner one of those we sell at work.

Happy tatting

Ladytats

Lark's head joins, restarting a doily

well, no pic for this post.

I had started a doily with the Sue Hanson HDT color way in the post below, but because my supply is finite added another thread in the same green for the rings. Flora size 20 color #228.

I was doing the Glass Matt from Mary Konior's Tatting with Visual Patterns. it is on page 74 & 76.

I have wanted to do this for some time, but never had the right thread. However, after 1 full pattern repeat, it was just too much green and not enough purple. so I took it apart. Yes, I took it apart. I didn't want to waste any of the HDT. I did cut the Flora rings though. I have now had to put the Sue Hanson project on hold until further inspiration hits.

I do like the purple and green so am going to do the Glass Matt in the Flora Green and Manuala size 20 purple color #40. and I will do 2 of them. one with green rings and purple chains and one with purple rings and green chains.

I tat front side/backside so rings and chains that are 2 different colors can cause a color spot so one thing that I am learning to do with this project is to join with no color spot showing. I think that I have figured out how to do it. Someone (Bina?), somewhere has given instructions on bringing the loop through the picot and making the loop large enough to fold back on itself. you then put the shuttle through the loops you made and work the thread tight. I did it the first time and it made the ring look lopsided.

Normally you make a picot between ds and when you join to it the join is between the ds. In this technique, when making the folded loop join to prevent the color spot, you are joining directly to a ds. this then makes the ring look lopsided. if you increase the ds to compensate, you are then changing the structure of our pattern.

so I think that you need to make the first half of the ds, then make the folded loop join to the back of the work, then make a second half ds.

or maybe I still have to work on it. I wish I could find the correct instructions. Oh, Well, I will work on it and see what I can come up with.

yeah! I just found the link on Bina's site http://www.paradisetreasures.com/ the join is called a Lark's head Picot Join and the link to the instructions is http://www.loopylacer.com/free_stuff/tips/LHPJ/ I knew it was somewhere. It may be on Jane Eborall's site too.

It's now about 45 minutes later, among other things, I have done 2 LHPJ. since at the moment, I am tatting backside rings where you start with the 2nd half ds first. the rings are 4+4+4-4 so I did 4+3 then 2nd half ds then LHPJ then 1st half ds then 3-4 the ring looks good from the front.
Unfortunately, I started with the purple rings/green chains matt first, it would be easier to learn this join if I had started with the green rings/purple chains first, but it seems to be going well, the second join I did was easier then the first. I will let you know how it all turns out.

Well it is now 11 at night. several hours after what I posted above.

After I finished that pattern repeat I took a good look at the rings and discovered that I was decreasing the stitch count in the ring by 1. but, if I put that ds back, the join ended up off center.

I ended up giving up on using the LHPJ. I am not happy with the distortion of the ring, either you had to decrease stitches, or increase stitches to make the ring even and that just didn't match the pattern. If I had know that to begin with, I might have changed the # of ds at the beginning to compensate for how the join needs to be done.

Since I tat frontside/backside, the join I do depends on what side I am on, I do the join to put the best look to the front - on the front, I pull the loop down, and on the back I pull the loop up.If you pull the loop up on the front, you leave 2 threads on the front between the ds. this isn't much and most everyone will not notice. This creates a slightly larger ring.I was trying to figure out a way to join that would not decrease or increase the size nor change the look of the ring and yet avoid the color dot.I have decided to do the joins the opposite of my normal way so that the color dot is on the back of the work. and just accept that if you look closely you will notice the join. The purple is so dark you it is almost as if you are tatting with black so you will not notice the 2 extra threads, but the green is light and bright enough that it is likely to be noticeable. at least to me.

Well despite the setbacks, and extra time it took learning the new join, which will be handy at certain times, and retro tatting both a chain and a ring when I discovered that I had missed 4 ds and a picot, I have gotten half done with the matt.

I realize now that what Mary Konior called a glass matt is actually what I would call a coaster. I may make a full set instead of just 2.

I also "went shopping" last night. I bought supplies from firemountain.gems and save-on-crafts.com for making christmas ornaments and another project that I have in mind.

I hope that all of you have a pleasant Labor Day weekend, and that the gulf coast doesn't get hit too hard by the hurricane.

Happy Tatting

Ladytats

Motif #13

The motif above is #13 of the 25 Motif challenge. I worked on this while babysitting this past weekend. It was easier to put down and pickup then a cluny motif for the Tat-Olympics which is why I had to drop out of the Tally-Ho Cluny competition.

The pattern was recently offered on a blog http://2.bp.blogspot.com. it is titled Tatted Daisy by Mrs. W.M. Odum.

I tatted it in Cebelia size 30 color light blue #747. next time I make this, I will try to get the overlaying chains even so the "petals" have better looking curves.

My son in law asked if I could make it larger. I presume you could as all the curves are just 2 ds larger then the row below. I would not want to make the overlaying chains any longer then they are, so may have to make a 2nd set of petals set further out. hmmm a double daisy or maybe a dahlia?

I have picked out my next motif to use the Sue Hanson thread posted below.

I have also found an inexpensive yarn swift to use in unwinding skeins of HDT threads.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Duct-Tape-Yarn-Swift/

Happy Tatting

Ladytats

more Thread

The scan above is 2 skeins of HDT in size 20 Hakelgarn thread by Ladyshuttlemaker. A brand that I have not tried before.

The yellow is called Pear Glacé and the gorgeous purple and green is named for Sue Hanson; Here-Be-Tatters list grandmom.

my mouth waters when looking at the Sue Hanson, I am waiting for inspiration as to just what I should do with it. I have so many ideas percolating for the many HDT threads that I have picked up lately. not to say that the commercial threads don't inspire me, because they do, I have many projects in my head, just not enough time to get them done.

as for UFO's, I promised our children, my husband, and myself crocheted afghans - I have 5.5 of the 9 done. and the youngest graduated from high school 5 years ago. I really need to finish those, but I have trouble crocheting with yarn during warm weather as my hands start to sweat and the tension gets out of whack. Tatting, however, is a year round craft

I hope God grants me many more years so that I can accomplish all I would like. However, His will not mine is the one I'll go by.

Happy Tatting

ladytats

Newest Granddaughter

Here is my newest granddaughter,

here name is Izabell Rose,

She is as lovely as her name.

I am at her home taking care of here big brother Ivan.

in this picture she is about 8 hours old.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow that everything turned out good.

I will be here for a few days longer.

I have not done much tatting while here, so will not be posting anything until I get back home.

I wish a successfull Tat-Olympics to all participants.

Happy Tatting

Ladytats

Tally-Ho Cluny Entry

This is my first official entry in the Here-Be-Tatters Tat-Olympics in the Tally-Ho Cluny event.

It is also motif # 12 for the 25 Motif Challenge.

This is tatted from size 20 Silk HDT called Rainbow Sherbet from LadyShuttleMaker. I liked working with this thread, other then I must have twisted it when taking it out of the skein and winding it on an old thread spool.

(by the way, does anyone know where I can get empty thread spools? I like to use them for leftovers and for thread that comes in a skein. )

I did change a few of the stitch counts on purpose to lay better for me, but did also make a mistake on the second side. The reason for the stitch count changes came about because I tatted the butterfly first in a larger throw away thread to make sure that I understood the directions. After blocking, I decided that I needed to make a couple of changes to make it lay better. I am happy with the changes that I made, just not the mistake. If any one needs the changes, let me know and I can tell you what they are.

I am on pins and needles tonight. I got a call from DD#6, she is in the hospital at least for observation if not actual labor for the birth of her daughter. This little girl will be our 7th grandchild. she is 3 weeks early but has already threatened 3 times before with popping out early. At this point the doctor's will allow nature to take it's course and not stop contractions. I am praying that all goes well despite Isabelle being early. we have been very blessed as a family. this will be the 4th grandchild born early. Isabelle's older brother Ivan who is now 6 was 7.5 weeks early, Morgan who is 7 was 6 weeks early and her younger sister, Eden was 5 weeks early. While they all ended up in NICU, all were near or above 5lbs. had no major breathing troubles, and were released to go home in less then 2 weeks. All are doing very well, some possible hyperactivity, but nothing major.

grandbaby #8 is due in November.

I missed one extra curricular activity in the post below. I am on the finance committee for the Tri-State Emergency Response Team that is just getting started. We have no funds in the kitty yet so we will have to do our best to bring in the funds. The first meeting for the committee is tomorrow night, there are only 3 of us on the committee, so hopefully we will be able to work together very well. The Emergency Response Team is a group of people affiliated with either an ambulance or other ems squad or a fire department. we are trying to get together a list of people and equipment that will be able to respond to disasters in our Tri-state area.

I tried something new tonight. I went into all the set up area's in layout and settings last night and found out that I can email my blog entry to the blog. That will save time and frustration, as I can spend time writing it and editing it without having to be online to do so. The only thing that doesn't work right is a picture, I then have to come into my blog and add the picture, not that big a problem and not all that time comsuming either. I had set the click box so that the posting will go directly into my blog, but I think that I will go back in and set it so it goes into drafts, that way I can add a photo and make any last minute changes before posting it.

Happy Tatting


Ladytats

extra curricular activities

I didn't get any tatting done tonight as I attended my first fire department meeting.
for the past 5 years, I have been a member of the local ambulance squad. Local being a relative term, as I live out in the country 15 miles from the ambulance garage. I am located in the NE corner of the district which covers 300 square miles. The ambulance couldn't wait for me to get there, so I would have to "chase" it to the scene, leaving my car there, or being lucky enough that there was someone there who could drive my car into town. DH was getting a bit fussy over my having to be on call or being gone so long on calls. The nearest hospital is an hour away from either end of the district, so a normal call would take about 4 hours from the time I left home until I got back. With the cost of gas so high I just decided to make my life easier and this past June I retired from the squad.
But, I couldn't stay away from helping others, so there is a small village, of less then 90 people only 3 miles from me. They have a fire department but now response unit. They have approved my application to be attached to the fire department, not as a firefighter, but as a First Responder. I will also be working on stirring up interest in getting a few more people trained as First Responders, so maybe we can get a Quick Response unit up and running.
My other extra curricular activities are representative for our Parish to the area Deanery Pastoral Council where I am the secretary for the 3rd year. I have also had the previlage of being appointed by the Bishop to represent the Deanery Council to the Diocesan level Pastoral Council.
The fire department means a monthly meeting and training, and fire calls are not too frequent. The church councils are quarterly, so not too much time is involved outside of home.
Happy tatting
Ladytats

2nd attempt at Tally -Ho clunies

Hi all,

here is my 2nd attempt at a motif with clunies. Also #11 for the 25 motif challenge.

it looks similar to the other one I did, but with some changes. due to a mistake that I made on the first motif, and a comment by BJ that the mistake looked like a bunny hopping, I changed the stitch arrangement in the small rings to create ears and left out the picots on the tail ring and the large body ring. I will do this one more time, and change the stitch count on the tail ring so that it is not as large as the head, and I will make the ear picots larger.

Stay tuned to see how it turns out.

I think first, I will just make a chain of Clunies to practice getting them even, they are not as easy as they look.

The second pic is of the last batch of HDT thread that I had ordered. These came from Ladyshuttlemaker, Thanks Sherry. I bought them on Etsy.com

the first one is a size 80 DMC in a color way called Tuscany, the 2nd is 100% pure silk size 20 in Rainbow Sherbert colorway, 3rd is also 100% pure silk size 20 in Raspberry Mousse, and 4th is Picasso size 10 called Peach Pandora.

the silk feels really nice, I will need to come up with a special project for the silks.

I had to mend Father's vestment tonight, so I didn't get to start tatting until about 9:00 pm I finished just before 11:00pm as I was occasionally distracted watching the sporting Olympics. And it is now after midnight.

I still need more practice, or maybe a good critique of my clunies, as I know that there must be some way to make them more even. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

Happy Tatting

Ladytats

no tatting today

I didn't get any tatting done today.
Right after 8:30 Mass, I left for my DD#6's 90 miles away. I got there about 11:30. She has been ordered to bedrest. She is 35 weeks pregnant and they are hopeing that she can hang on to this baby for another 2 weeks. Her first baby was 7.5 weeks early, so she has already done better this time.
DD#5 came too, and we got some work done around the house and in her garden to give her a hand.
I got back home about 8:30 tonight.
DD#6 has a doc appointment tomorrow and we will find out more then.
I am worn out. it is now almost 11:30 and time for bed.
DH didn't get in from combining until after 10, I can hear him snoring so I should go wake him up so he can eat supper, he fell asleep in the chair watching the weather.
Happy Tatting
Ladytats

Tat-Olympics

Hi All, On Here-Be-tatters we have decided to participate in the
Olympics of tatting.
There are several events that include:
Ornaments All Around
Snowflake Slalom
800 Meter Dash
Bookmark Bobsled
Motif Marathon
Tally Ho Clunies
Freestyle Edging
Jewelry Jumping
Synchronized Snowflakes
Technical Figure Skating
And An open event for any other tatting plans

I have entered the Tally-Ho Cluny event.
to the right is my first attempt at a motif that includes clunies. There was a Vikings football game on the tv tonight, so had much tatting time while watching the game.
I definately need work on getting my clunies even, but tonights effort was just to get comfortable with the loom weave on my hand and the I think that I have gotten much more comfortable with clunies on the whole.
While my clunies need more practice to get even, in my hast to get this done and posted, can you find the mistake in the outer rings? I will be working this motif a couple more times as it is easy and yet gives a good number of clunies for practice. I didn't hide the ends, I turned them into a hanger so I can use it as an ornament.
this motif is from Georgia Seitz's website and it was designed by Saundra Hameed for the 2001 classes. http://www.georgiaseitz.com/classes2001/fall2001/hameedcluny.html

I felt that I was under a handicap tonight, there is a dead mouse in my house. And in between tatting I spent a good chunk of time tearing most of my bedroom apart, moveing dressers and other furniture trying to find the stinky thing. Turns out it is in the cold air return duct. DH took the cover off but there is no way to reach it. Yuck! I may sleep on the couch in the living room tonight.

I am also a bit stressed, grandchild #7 is due in about 5 weeks, but DD started contractions on wednesday again off and on until yesterday when the docs got it stopped. This is the second time, but at least she is much closer this time. She is now on bed rest, so if DH doesn't need me for combining wheat this weekend, after the funeral for a friends mother tomorrow, I will be heading 90 miles to watch my grandson while DD stays in bed.

This is motif #10 for the 25 motif challenge.

Happy tatting
Ladytats

angels motifs 8 & 9

I needed an angel for a gift tomorrow, so sat down tonight and tatted these angels. The pattern is one of Nancy Tracy's from http://www.be-stitched.com/
The first is a rayon thread. I do not have the tag any more, so have no idea the name of the thread or the size but do know that I picked it up at Nordic Needle in Fargo ND. they are on the web so check them out.
The second one is an HDT in size 10 that I bought on ebay from klmattox it is a nice color way.

I had some trouble with the double picots for the wings on the angels. the rayon wanted to twist so after finishing it, I wet it down and pinned it out. it is still a bit wet, so will go back on the styrofoam board to finish blocking. I think that I will need to wet the cotton one too and pin it out. the wings want to twist on that one as well, but I let the shuttle dangle and straighten out the twist in the thread a bit before making the picot so they are straighter.

This is a nice quick pattern. The rayon one took me about 40 minutes and the cotton one about 35, so it works up quick. The only technique that might not be familiar to beginners would be the double picots, but Nancy explains a bit about how to do them in the pattern and for further information you can look up Mark Meyers site or do a google search for double picots and find some good information, or simply ask the Here-Be-tatters email group for help.


Here is some of the HDT that I bought this past week. The first scan is of thread from Marilee Rockley, Yarnplayer arts, you can find her on Etsy. Thread #1 is called Vibrato it is size 10. #2 is called Summer Trail, it is a Pearl cotton size 10/2. #3 is called Nectarine and is a Linen 30/2. #4 is called Lavender and is a size 80

The second scan is of thread from Linda Mattox, klmattox on ebay. these are center pull balls of size 10 crochet thread. The blue color way is the thread that I used for the angel above.

Happy tatting
Ladytats

mail surprise

Today in the mail at work, I received an envelope from my folks.
It had a lump in it and I couldn't wait until I got home to find out what was in it, so I opened it at work.

I was this shuttle that had belonged to my Great Aunt Hazel. I hadn't known that she tatted. She was an older lady when I was little so I didn't know her very well. I can't recall exactly when she died but it is over 30 years ago. As you can see the ends are still tight even tho it has thread wound on it. The scan isn't clear enought to show you how pretty this shuttle is. I am not a fan of plastic tortoise shell, but this is very nice.

I now have shuttles from my grandmother Eulalia ( isn't that a pretty name?) who taught me to tat, and GA Hazel.

Thanks mom and dad for finding this and thinking enough of me to pass this on.

I feel very blessed.
Happy Tatting
Ladytats

motif #6 & 7

Up first is another try at Martha Ess's Dragon Paprika. I am pleased with this try. The joins are closer and the face came out better and I was right if you do the face in one pass instead of putting it down while doing it, it works out much better. I used the left over thread on my shuttles from the first one I did and ended up finger tatting with the last 6” from shuttle 1 and 8” from shuttle 2. I would not have been a happy camper if I had needed to add thread at the very end. The thread that I used is a nice saturated red, but this scan still looks brown. I left off most of the beads as this is to go to a 3 yr old boy who is into NASCAR and other busy stuff.

The second motif finished today is a fairy. This fairy is going to the 5 yr old sister of the dragon boy.

This is a pattern by Jane Eborall, http://www.e.n.e.btinternet.co.uk/ This was done in size 10 J. & P. Coats Knit-Cro-Sheen. It is a crappy thread for tatting but the only thread that I had in a varigated color way in a size that I wanted to use. The beads for the skirt are white pearls and the beads for the wing are 12/0 lustered beads both from http://www.tatsall.ca/seedbeads.htm
I had a spot of trouble and had to cut and add thread when I started the wing. I had counted the beads for the skirt wrong and had an extra, I tried to take the easy way out by smashing the bead with a pliers but cut one strand of the thread and it wanted to shred, so had to cut out the damaged part and add the rest of shuttle 1 back in.
As for the amount of thread used in this fairy, I had wound about 4-5 yards on both bobbins for my Silent Shuttles. And having to cut out the damaged part and to cut and tie at the end of the wand and start and end the legs, I had about 1-2 feet left on my shuttles. My measurements are not exact because it is about 3' if I hold the end of the thread in my right hand, stretch my right arm out all the way and measure the thread to the left shoulder.

Gale Marshall's site has a lot of good stuff for tatting. She even offers additional time at $75,000.00/hour however she is sold out at the moment. I have been saving up my pocket lint to buy some time, but it looks beyond my reach at any time soon.

I ordered some more HDT threads this week, I can't wait until they come. When they do, I will post a pic of them.

The first football game of the season is on and it is only 9 p.m. So I will see if I can get a pair of earings done yet tonight, that will give me one more thing on my list. By the time I decided what thread and beads to use and found the hoops that I wanted to mount the tatting in, and wound the skein of thread on a spool, it ended up being 10 so I will work on the earrings tomorrow. I am planning on using the earing pattern from Nancy Tracy's http://www.be-stitched.com/ Her earrings were patterned for a 1.25” hoop. My hoops are 1.75” so I will need to adjust the pattern. Her's used only 2 rows but I am thinking that 3 might work better, although if I make the space threads longer using beads I may be able to get by with 2 rows.

The thread that I am going to use, is a varigated green I picked up at Nordic Needle in Fargo. The tag on the thread says #239 (color number) and the other side says LEAH'S. I just checked their website and it is a pearl cotton size 8 but it is a crisper pearl cotton then the DMC threads. It feels and tats up smoother . http://www.nordicneedle.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc? Has anyone had any experience with this thread?
Happy Tatting
Ladytats

major bummer

Hello All,
I am just plain bummed. The following would normally be a topic for my private blog on yahoo 360, but tonight I think it needs to be more public.
I can not believe the nerve of some people. on a tatting email list that I belong too some of the members started to get very personal off topic and now several including the list mom have been slammed and their feelings have been hurt to the point that list mom has scheduled the close of the list.
I have learned so much from all the wonderful tatters on the list. I have no other tatters any where close, the only place I have found is on the 'net.
I am hoping that a solution maybe found and the list will not have to close.
It seems to me that if you want to say something that is divisive - topics that cause strong feelings such as religion or politics that you would know to make your point on your blog, not on an email group list dedicated to tatting, that is just wrong.
I am so peeved! I am a very strong Catholic, and I work very hard to practice tolerance and patience and to remember that only God can judge not me. I try to practice the Gift of Wisdom that I received in Confirmation and see the good (God) in everyone. So many forget that the person is not the behavior.
Please remember to love the person even if you don't agree with their behavior or what they said. Do not make personal attacks, everyone is made in the image and likeness of God and is therefore worthy of respect.
Time to let this go and do a little praying for guidance.
Happy tatting
Ladytats

stacked crosses bookmark

this is the first attempt at this bookmark.
While I was mending Father's alb today, a bookmark was running around in my head. This is the first attempt at what I am calling stacked crosses.
this is not yet blocked nor is it finalized. It is tatted in one pass from top to bottom using split rings.

I will have to let this design perculate for a bit as I am not completely satisfied at how it turned out.

the lopsided split rings may look better when it is blocked I hope.

I realize that the scan is a bit hard to see with yellow thread against a white background. I should have taken the time to dig out a darker colored paper to use as a background.

since this isn't a final usable design I am not submitting it for the 25 motif challenge.

Happy Tatting
Ladytats

Crochet not tatting

These are the tassel caps that I finished today for Father's cincture.
They are crocheted using Anchor Marlitt color 1037 This is a rayon 6 stranded embroidery thread. I used 2 skeins held together. Each tassel cap took 4 skeins. I reused the original fringe.

appling the fringe took almost as long as crochetting the caps.

If i do any others for him, I am going to look into doing something more elaborate, maybe tatted, or celtic knot or chinese knot. I will have to do some searching. I followed the pattern of the originals for these.

I thought that I would get Father's vestment mended today, but it is a good thing he doesn't need it tomorrow for Mass.

I didn't get any tatting done either, it was just too nice a saturday so took some time to just be and read a book.

Happy Tatting
Ladytats

short note

I has been a busy couple of days at work.

I haven't posted my work website yet, so thought that I would do so tonight.
http://www.dakotasteelart.com/ I am the office manager but there are 7 employees, so we all help out with more then one aspect of what we do. The website is for retail but the main focus of our business is wholesale to other retailers. Here are just 2 of the over 300 designs we have for Windspinners, and other metal art. The Dancing DNA mobiles are really nice, take a look and let me know what you think.

I did some tatting during lunch time today on the second dragon. I hope to get it done this weekend, along with a lot of housework and some mending on one of Father's vestments and crochet the tassel cap for one of his cinctures that needed mending.

time for bed.
Happy Tatting
Ladytats

mini doily and 25 motif challenge

Hello all,

I have joined Sharon Brigg's 25 motif challenge. http://25motifchallenge.blogspot.com/ if you aren't familiar with this, you agree to tat 25 motifs during a years time. Sharon has generously allowed me to back date my committment to this challenge and will accept the 5 tatted items now posted on this blog, because of that I will date my year from the 1st of June 2008. Wish me good tatting as I work my way through this.

Tonight is the last of the tatted items that I will move from my previous blog. It was originally posted on 06/27/08. this miniature doily I tatted for a friend of mine to congratulate her for quiting Smoking. She loves little things so I thought that a miniature doily would be just the thing. The first 2 rounds are Sharon Brigg's M10 from her book Transitions in Tatting Flat to Floral and then I added another round so it is about 3" in dia. I used antique thread Daisy size 20 by Lily Mills. I didn't notice until now that I scanned it from the backside.

Yes, I tat front/backside. it seems very logical to me as I can see the differences. so when I teach that is how I teach, but do tell my students that it is alright to simply enjoy the process and not worry about the front or back side.

I have a tatting book review to bring over from my previous blog to close out the items that I am moving over.

Happy tatting

Ladytats

paprika the dragon

This dragon is based on Marth Ess's Dragon Paprika. http://tinyurl.com/6qfnaq It was tatted in Aida size 10 color 47 which is a nice deep red unlike the picture which looks like it is brown. The beads are 10/0 rochaille.

I wanted to tat this dragon for my 3 yr old nephew (I taught his dad to tat a couple of weeks ago.) , but didn't think this active NASCAR loving little boy would appreciate too many beads, so only used the one for the eye and added the one for the nostril, however, I didn't pay enough attention to the picture of the pattern and my picots are too big. Also I got interupted a couple of times right in the middle of the tricky chains and had a heck of a time trying to get them to go the right way and to know which shuttle I should be using. I think that there must be an easier way to get the chains to go the way you need them to. I will have to do it again. Since this little boy loves NASCAR so much, does anyone know of a car pattern to tat?

I am thinking that I will need to make another dragon for his older sister, but that one will be a "girly" color with beads.

I started this one this morning before going to work, did a bit on it during lunch time, and finished it tonight. All told about an hour and a half. I used Jane Eborall's posted method of adding beads instead of stringing them on the thread when winding the shuttle. http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~nickeb/index.htm that works much better for me and I have actually used it before, and I am glad that now it doesn't seem like cheating.

Happy tatting

Ladytats

new shuttles

originally posted 07/12/08 on my former blog

Hello All,
I had a good time over the 4th, hope you did too. I spent the day with my 7 children, 5 inlaws, 6 grandkids, and a bunch of friends.
this past Monday to Friday I attended a family reunion with my parents and siblings. it was an enjoyable time all around.
during the reunion I was able to teach 2 new tatters.
the picture above is of the 2 new shuttles that I bought from Roseground in the UK. I now have 6 of these, each in a different wood or synthetic. I love these shuttles, they fit my hand and are so smooth. I have only had 1 problem with one shuttle, the hook came loose. I sent it back to roseground, and they repaired it for free. All it cost me was the postage. I highly recommend these shuttles. http://www.roseground.com/

In answer to several requests for the pattern for my rosary, I wrote it up quickly tonight. it is in the shortened version that I use for myself. If you need help, let me know.
2008 Rosary Pattern
by Jeanne Lugert (ladytats) NATA #39
ladytatslace#yahoo.com ( change the # to @)
R= ring
SR = split ring
CL = close ring
LCH = lock stitch chain
- = very small joining picot
+ = join
Sh# = shuttle 1 or shuttle 2
RW = reverse work
[X#] = number of repeats
CTM = Continuous Thread Method
size 20 thread
Wind approxamately 6 yds on shuttle 1 and 5yds on shuttle 2 CTM
Starting at the bottom of the cross,
SR 8/8 CL,
SR 7-1/7-1 CL,
SH1 R 1+14-1 CL, RW
SH2 R 1=14-1 CL, RW
SR1+7/1+7 CL
LCH 4
SR 8/8 CL
LCH 4
SR 8/8 CL [X3]
LCH 4
SR 8- (lay in magic thread)8/(lay in magic thread)8 CL [yes, this is a lopsided ring]
LCH 4
*SR 8/8 CL [X10]
LCH 4* Repeat for 5 decades.
Cut threads about 6” from end of last LCH and join to picot (tie ends around together in a knot) in large ring. Hide ends using magic threads
notes:
I used to use a regular chain instead of the lock stitch chain, but it had a tendancy to curve and I like the look of the LCH in this pattern.
The above stitch count is the one that I used for a man's rosary, for a women's, I have cut the stitch count to 6 instead of 8 for rings and used 3 for the LCH, but you don't need to. The basic stitch count can be increased or decreased as you please depending on the look you want or the size of the thread.
Also I have added picots to the sides of the Our Father rings, and to the cross.
I have added beads or used a blending filament for sparkle. Have fun, and if you have any questions, let me know.

Ladytats