Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Antique Booklet, Embroidery and a Tatted Bookmark

These are the last 3 pages of the Antique Booklet. 29, 30 & 31 and they deal with Embroidery. The back cover is the same as the front cover.

I hope that you have been at least a little interested in the booklet and maybe you found something in it of interest.





Tonight I am posting a bookmark that I made for my sister in law. Her mother died last week. This is based on the pattern called Malene by Lene Bjorn from Tatted Bookmarks.

The thread is Lizbeth size 20 in the color Spring. I changed the pattern slightly, in that Lene dimpled ring calls for 6-6-8+6-6 ds. I used my verison of a dimpled ring 6-6-1[4 first half, 4second half] 1+6-6. Using the 4 first half and then 4 second half allows the bars of the ds to rotate and lets the 2 sides of the very tight turn in the dimpled ring to fit together snuggly.



I went shopping at my local shoe store the other day, the lady who just opened this store used to work at Dakota Steel Art with me. She has some really good looking shoes, and some very cute little kid shoes. I bought the 2 pair of shoes below for my youngest grandkids. They are Squeaker Sneekers. They are sooo cute. As the name says, they squeak when the child walks on the heel area. I supposes they would be annoying if worn all the time, but you can remove the squeaker when you go places like church. but they are handy if the child is in another room, or around the corner at the store, cuz we all know that they are sneeky.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Antique Booklet, Tatting and health

Here are the 3 pages from the Antique Booklet, pages 26, 27 & 28 that pertain to tatting.

And I have also included the medallion from that Antique Booklet that I had previously posted. I have a doily nearly finished that starts with this medallion and will post that when it is finished. I have the last half of the last row to get done.



today I had to leave work early and travel to town - half hour drive, to see the doctor. nothing too big. I also saw the Chiropractor. I knew by Sunday that I had a sinus infection again. all my allergies over the years that have caused me to have asthma, and leave me susceptible to sinus infections and bronchitis. I usually get one or the other at least once a year.
I am also hypothyroid, and discussed this with my doctor. I have had several different doctors over the past few years as 2 of them came down with cancer. This one was willing to listen to me as far as how I was feeling and is willing to consider changing my thyroid meds. she had some blood tests done today and I should find out in a few days where we go from here.
I have been on thyroid meds since I was 2 years old. For all but the last 2 years I have taken Armour Thyroid. the doctor that I saw back in 2007 said that was old fashioned, wouldn't listen to me and changed my prescription to Synthroid. I have never felt as good on Synthroid as I did with the Armour Thyroid. and I have gained weight easier these last couple of years, and also felt a bit more on the depressed side, enough so that doctor actually gave me a quiz that was supposed to show if I was depressed or not. I answered 4 out of 5 questions pointing toward depression. If I had answered the last one with the "correct" answer, he would have wanted to put me on depression meds.
I am glad that the doctor that I am seeing now is willing to discuss my thyroid, and hope that things will get back on track.
She also suggested that I try to lose 5 pounds. I was able to lose 5 after Christmas, but found them again after Easter... darn. So will try to lose them again and not leave any bread crumb trails so maybe they will stay lost this time.
I have some very good news too. My youngest sister in law has MS. They put her on a very brand new drug this past december and it has not only halted progression of the MS, but has allowed her body to start healing. This is great, she has regained some of the mobility that she had lost in the last year. The only drawback to this med, and it is a major one, is that it leaves the taker susceptable to brain infections. Thanks to God for her progress, but pray to God that she doesn't get that.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Antique Booklet, knitting & hairpin lace

Today are the last 2 pages of the knitting instructions and the single page of Hairpin Lace.

I have done hairpin lace once, and I have one of the adjustable looms, but I have seen some really nice items using a combination of hairpin and tatting. That is something that is on the back burner for now, as I want to perfect my Lucet cording and see if I can combine that with tatting at some point. And there are so many other UFOs that really need to be finished.

These are pages 23, 24 &25.

Tomorrow we start the tatting pages.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

antique booklet, knitting

Here are the first 3 pages of the knitting instructions from the antique booklet.
pages 19, 20, 21 & 22

Friday, May 15, 2009

Antique Booklet, crochet

Just the booklet tonight, The last of the Crochet pages numbers 14, 15, 16, 17 & 18

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Antique book and Lucet

I am posting another 3 pages from the antique booklet , 11, 12 & 13. there are 5 more pages of crochet.

I am also posting my first really decent attempt at Lucet cord. I am doing it with 2 strands of DMC Perle Coton size 8. My son wears a shark tooth necklace but the cord is fraying and in fact has a nylon thread core which scratches his neck. I likes the shark tooth and the beads that are on either side, so I figured that I could make him a new cord. I thought about a tatted cord, and could do it very easily. It wouldn't look "girly" either, in fact Mark Meyers - Tatman - has just finished a man's necklace and wristlet which you can see here http://tatmantats.wordpress.com/ but for my son, I think he would be happier with a Lucet cord so I am working on it. I think that I have been doing a pretty good job so far.

And last but not least a proud grandma just has to brag on her youngest grand daughter. Izzabel is sitting up all by herself and having a really good time doing it. she is 8.5 months old. Looking good girl.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Antique Booklet and etsy shopping

Sorry for the delay, today I have posted pages 8, 9, and 10

the next 2 posts will have more of the crochet pages, after that we will move to the knitting, hairpin lace, tatting and finish with the embroidery.

if any of you need a clearer scan or have any questions, let me know.

I haven't gotten much tatting done the last couple of days, so I don't have anything to show.

I got a call late this afternoon and I will be baby-sitting a couple of grandkids this weekend. so not much tatting then either.

I went shopping on www.etsy.com a week or so ago, and bought this very pretty Poke Proof Shuttle Pouch from Jane Eborall. There is even a little bobbin pouch to go with it. Very nice, Thanks Jane


the monthly fire department meeting was tonight. some of the guys cleaned and straightened out the equipment truck and my turnout gear disappeared. turned out they didn't realize that someone needed the small stuff. took a while to get it all collected again and this time I wrote my name in my coat and pants. It looks like I will finally get boots to fit. boots come in guy sizes and a man's size 7 is too big. I am not a trained fireman, I am a first responder attached to the local fire department, so I can't actually fight fire, I am there for first aid and will also handle logistics. I am also responsible for filing the monthly reports with the state fire department. we are a very small department, and very lucky that we haven't had any fires. I joined the department back in september, we have gone on 2 mutual aids since then, but no fires of our own. yeah!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all.

I took a quiet day to myself, did some tatting on a doily that I will show when I have finished the last half of the last round. It is based on the Antique Medallion in a previous post.

I know that I had planned on posting all the pages from the Antique Booklet, and that I haven't gotten very far in it yet. I will apologize for that and try to get more of the pages posted in the next few days.

Yesterday was a granddaughter's 5th birthday. I got to spend a good part of the day with some of the grandkids, that always makes for a nice day.

The 2 oldest granddaughters have celebrated their First Communions. these are the cross bookmarks that I made for them.

The one on the left is Camilla from Tatted Bookmarks by Lene Bjorn, the one on the right is a cross I have done so much, that I don't need a pattern and have no idea who if anyone published it. Since it is so basic and simple, I feel sure that someone has.
The thread is size 20 Lizbeth and the color is Springtime. The scan doesn't do the colors justice, they really pop. The thread is very easy to work with and you can un-tat fairly easily without shredding the thread. After reading some other's experiences with the ends not staying hidden, I hid ends under 6 or 7 stitches instead of the usual 4, or to the first picot, whichever comes first.

It was a fairly nice day today. The high was in the low 60's and it wasn't too windy and the sun was shinning. Maybe spring really is on the way. Hubby actually got to spend some time in the field. Crops are getting planted very late this year.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

shopping, wedding tatting, 25 motif challenge & Lucet cording

I thought that I would show you a bit of what I have been doing.

this is the tiny heart and flower pattern from Jon you can find the patterns here.
I too am making these for a wedding. our Daughter #4, Elizabeth, is getting married this fall.
And these make the end of my 25 Motif Challenge
This will be the 6th daughter to get married. What she has decided to do is pick a color palette from the paint store. Then give the bridesmaids the paint palette and ask them to get a dress that matches one of the 6 colors of blue that she picked. That way it is hoped they will like the dress and be able to wear it more then once. As an accent color, she has chosen a trio of reds. both of the threads above match the red choices The brighter one is an antique thread size 30 from my grandmother Eulalia that I wrote about before. The other is called Crescent Colours Hand Dyed Perles #8 in Cupid. I picked this up from Nordic Needle in Fargo ND. When I grabbed it, I thought it was a skein, as it said 10 yards. It is 10-1 yard pieces. It took 1 of the strands to make the small flower above, and I finger tatted the last ring so I could make it. I also picked up some beads and will experiment with them too, before sending the choices to Elizabeth for her decision. These small flowers or hearts, will go on one end of the ribbon streamers holding the brides maids bouquets together.

The other streamer end will be a tatted initial so each bridesmaid will have a personalized bouquet. I do have one more red thread, it is a Silk pearl that I also got from Nordic Needle, but I haven't done anything with that yet.
Also at Nordic Needle, I bought 2 pattern books.

I've been wanting one of Iris Niebach's books for a while, now I have one. and the Farm animals will go over well with the grandson's.

While in Fargo, I stopped at the Hobby Lobby. I found a very poor selection of Lizbeth, but did get one ball.

I also did some shopping online at Handy Hands. I bought some of the thread that they had on their Spring Thread Sale.

The pattern book will come in handy and I liked the look of the 3 Omega threads size 50. The yellow is a Manuela and I always enjoyed that brand of thread. The small purple is one of Handy Hands own Cordonnet. Being partial to purple, I decided to pick up a SewMate shuttle in that color. my normal choice for a tatting shuttle is the Silent tatters with a hook from Roseground. but in a pinch.... I wanted a couple more sizes of mini crochet hooks - these are size 14 & 15. I have a size 16 and some of the larger sizes, but occasionally I need one of these. The small spool of thread is a sample of Lizbeth in Magenta/white/teal. I just realized that I missed the second pattern book. Here Be Dragons by Karey Solomon. That will be an interesting challenge.

and I went shopping on ebay.
I have been thinking about Lucet cords off and on, wondering if there was a way to make a heading with picots to join too and maybe a substitute for Coronation cord. So I picked up a Lucet made of cow horn - I could have found one of wood or bone, but the horn appealed to me.
As you can see, I will need a lot more practice before I would use any of the cord with my tatting. The book that I also got gives directions for cords with gimp, picots, and a suggestion for how to make a cord that could sub for Coronation cord.
This post is long, so time to hang it up.