3 X 3 Square with Edging

Here is the little square motif pattern done 3 X 3 and then a simple little edging to finish it off.

Split Chain Doily Set

Here is the pink set completed. It turns out that my neighbour is not really into delicate lacy things so I shall keep this as a "stock" item to give as a present to someone else in the future.

This is my next project - a square motif that can be put together as often as the tatter wishes. The first square was not quite right, but I was pleased when only my second attempt worked very well. I am now in the process of photographing the motifs as I make them so that I can produce a pattern for them. The 4 squares above have not been pressed and so do not look as good as they could. When I have completed the pattern I will post a better picture.

Competition diamond

Now that the judging is finished for this year's Ring of Tatters competition, I can show my contribution. I showed my first attempts of a diamond motif in a previous post, but this is the one I settled on for the competition. I also gave the RoT the pattern for this little diamond motif and they will eventually be including it in the pattern section.

Diamond Motifs

The following pictures are my journey into designing a diamond shaped motif to enter into the Ring-of-Tatters competition this year. I will not post a picture of the final design that I am entering, I will save that until after the competition.

Motif and Coronet Edging

I have been asked to video myself working the outer edging on my Coronet Doily and so, of course, I had to make another one to achieve this. I used Lizbeth thread, size 40 in 120 colourway, but this thread was a real nightmare with the amount of twist in it!!! No matter how carefully I wound my shuttles, or let them dangle, there was always too much twist.....I had to be really careful how I closed my rings!
The software with my new computer is soooo different from my last one that it is going to take me sometime to work out how to edit my video. For YouTube it can only be 10 minutes or less and at the moment my clip is 30!

This is a little motif that I doodled with a couple of nights ago. I just wanted to tat something while I was watching television and this is what I came up with.
I used split rings, split chains and thrown off rings to achieve the look.
The thread is Altin Basak 50, although it tats up more like a 20 size!

Designing all done!

Here are a few more motifs that I have done for the new book.





I have done enough patterns now and my next job is to show how I assemble the motifs into arrangements.

Headdress motifs

Here are a few motifs I have come up with for the latest book of patterns. I shall show how to assemble them into both a hair slide and a corsage, showing that the same motif can be used in more ways than one.

Another Doodle

Here is another doodle. This is a combination of the recent doily and the last motif.

This has been done in Coates size 70 thread and measures 5.5 inches (14cm)

Motif doodle

Have shuttle will travel!

This is the result of just picking up my shuttle and starting to tat, with no particular idea of where it was going to take me.

I quite like this one and think it will look well on my Christmas tree. I think I will do it in sparkly threads and beads next.

Bridal Headdress Cluny Motifs

These are the lates motifs I have designed that I intend to make into a bridal headdress. My future DIL wanted me to make her a tiara for the big day (which I have done...see previous post) but since her original request she developed breast cancer and has lost all her hair with the treatment.

Although the wedding is not until 4th September, her hair will still be very short, probably about 3 inches max and as such, I don't think that a tiara will be easy to wear. To soften the blow I entend to have one or two alternatives for her to wear, like these motifs made up onto a comb and also, I thought I might make a headband type. Originally she had not intended to wear a veil, but a little veil coming straight down from a combed headdress that can be worn at the back of the head would soften the shortness of her hair.

I will post more pics later in the process.

If anyone has any other ideas I would love to hear them.

Tiara motifs

In a previous post I told you about our future daughter-in-law being diagnosed with breast cancer. Well, it was supposed to be good news, as there was no lymph involvement, and she would only have to have radiotherapy after the lump was removed. But it now turns out that she is HER2+, and for those who do not not understand what this means (which I didn't until recently) it is not good news! HER2+ means that she has the most agressive form of cancer and therefore will have to have the most aggressive form of treatment! Chemo, radiotherapy and Herceptin....the whole kit and kaboodle!

She had been growing her hair for the wedding, Sept 4 2010, but of course, will now loose all her hair. She had it cut short last week so that loosing it would not be so traumatic! It looks fantastic and she is so pleased, because by the time the wedding comes round her hair will have grown to this length at least. We have all assured her that we think it suits her better than when it was longer! And....hand on heart.....we all really mean this! It suits the shape of her face so well - it gives her that urchin look!

Now that I've got all that off my chest, the reason for the tiara motifs is this. I was always going to make DIL's tiara anyway, so I thought, to cheer her (and myself) up a bit I would make a start on the design. The pictures show my doodles so far. They are a long way from the finished article - I may not use anything I have done so far! LOL - but any feedback/comments/suggestions from my valued tatting friends and followers would be most welcome. My tentative idea is to make a larger motif for the centre, with smaller motifs on either side, and maybe even smaller again, petering out. I must mention that DIL is only small with a cute little face, so the whole thing has to be on the smaller side. When I get the final design right, I shall be using real crystals, so that it sparkles - it will also match in with the sparkles on her wedding dress. I have several shapes of crystal including faceted droppers. My personal favourite motif, so far, is the centre white one in the top row, but I also love to use clunies. Oh what a wonderful dilemma, I'm loving every moment of it, especially because of the reason that I am doing it! It was always going to be a pleasure, but now its magnitude is a thousand fold!