I’ve made progress

Not in the dragon. Well, I have, but not enough to show you.

I’ve made progress recovery from my 2023 Lenten Journey. You remember….the one that ended with me in the hospital for Heart Failure? That one. Anyway, I’m making progress. Today I find out just how much progress with test results. While trying to stay still, I thought of this photo I took:

The flower was on a bush growing along side the trail I hiked the other day. I was drawn to the cheery color of pink and so snapped a picture. As I looked at the picture later, I noticed that 3 of the 5 petals have darker spots of color. Asymmetry that must have some reason. I’ll take this natural occurrence to give me a reason to make my tatting pattern asymmetrical on purpose. Well, I’ll probably make them asymmetrical by accident! But, that design variation (NOT a mistake mind you!) will be because nature does that sometimes too!!

Will this make sense?

 I’m halfway done with my Chinese Dragon designed by AnneBruvold. You can find the pattern here. I’m glad I chose red thread! Now to connect up all those rings in the correct order…..

Playing with color

 I’ve been working on a pair of earrings. I wanted to use a color palette a friend loves. Nothing jumped out at me when I looked over my thread options. Beads seemed to gather of their own accord as I sifted through my box ‘o shiny. But, what thread to use with all these wonderful beads????

The thread on the left I’ve used before. On the spool it seemed to coordinate with the palette. It just didn’t grab my eye though. I decided to go for contrast with the thread on the right. I like it better.

I got confused

 Here’s the completed Antiks snowflake. Thank you Muskaan for inspiring me. Also thanks to Lina Libin for the concept of lots and lots of beads. Their explanations were NOT confusing. I understood what they were doing with the stitch count, element order, and bead notation. That didn’t confuse me.

What confused me was my own fault. I chose to try to use two threads that are very close in color. Being metallic, you really can’t tell them apart in lamp light. It’s wintertime here, so I’m working with lamp light a lot. I also chose to use quite a variety of beads in specific places of the design. That means you must load the beads in a specific order on specific thread. It took days of puzzling it out, making notes, loading beads to get to the tatting stage of the project. That confused me just a bit. What confused me a lot?

I changed my mind. Partway through tatting the 2^nd round, I changed my mind. It was the right decision. It looks much better with the new plan. I just had a devil of a time puzzling out what needed changing, undoing the beads loaded on thread, and getting things set up correctly. My own fault!

Thank you again to Muskaan and Nina Libin.

The experiment was a success!

 I was asked recently why I continued to tat other people’s design when I design myself. Well, those forays have given me a lot. I love supporting other tatters. They frequently support me. I try out concepts in designing with fun patterns. Often those patterns inspire my students and my own design concepts.

I’m still working on Muskaan’s Antiks snowflake. I’m working the penultimate repeat. This is a picture of a previous repeat. I loaded up this example with lots of stuff: metallic thread, beads, rings with beads in center, multiple colors of beads, busy schedule that breaks up the tat times into short chunks. Lots of stuff that slows down the tatting and increases the probability of mistakes. I think I’ll be able to finish it this weekend.

An adventure in roses

 I like roses. The large town I grew up around is known for roses. The Rose gardens that city maintains hold many wonderful memories. My mother was a test gardener for Jackson Perkins. I love roses.

I’ve never managed to have a thriving garden. I don’t seem to have a green thumb. My roses do OK and I try not to kill them, but my efforts don’t produce the wow factor.

Tatting different. I like tatting roses. I tatted this rose many years ago. More have followed. Recently, I sat in on an embroidery discussion about a stitch that uses something like a DS. The project they were working on was a rose. Here’s how far I got before the tatting shuttles called out:

I haven’t finished the stitching. I did enjoy making a Lilliputian Rose. The pattern was shared many years ago during an Online Tatting Class chat session. I made one, but couldn’t find it. So, I happily tatted another:

One year

 

That’s how long I’ve been on this journey.

I’m a heart patient now. Curtesy of my brush with Congestive Heart Failure. We’ll never know what virus caused it. Could have been a relapse of COVID, could have been the chest cold the choir was passing around, could have been the common cold. I’ve been taking a cocktail of heart medications which take a dent out of my budget.

So, no extra travel; no Fancy Restaurant meals; no splurges on books or clothes; no new car; you get the picture. I still have a bit to go before I’m “recovered” and get my stamina back.

I can still tat. I can still play the organ. I can still teach. I can still volunteer. I can still walk by the Bay. I can still throw small parties and enjoy the company of friends. I can still create.

Overall, this journey has been significant, but not arduous. My life is good by many yardsticks. Let us celebrate life together.

Another find

 

I found this at an Estate sale. I’m always thrilled to find samples of tatting that are well loved. I need to repair this piece in a couple of places. Then I will wash and carefully iron out the worst of the wear. I imagine this hanging in a kitchen of a quaint cottage with seashells arranged on the window sill.

Shameless plug

 That’s your warning……  

SCMR tool

I am using today’s post to highlight some nifty tatting accessories. No, not more earrings. I helped my

Stand

daughter develop a 3-D printed SCMR tool, a display stand that stores flat, and a Toolbox. She sells them through her website, and also an Etsy shop. I’m pleased to remind everyone that the 15% coupon code of PICOTSNKEYS is still active. If you have questions, please feel free to use the comment area of this post or the email contact link.

Toolbox