Attacking the WIP pile

You've seen the tatting....

Now I've got to produce the finished product. My current boss (Rev. Dr. Ophelia) at the hospital was recently ordained. She is a wonderful woman who is greatly respected throughout our city. Recently she was recognized as Charlotte's Woman of the Year. An amazing recognition and well deserved.

I'm honored to have her as my supervisor.

So, I figured I better get this thing done. Here is the 'shell' made of an Icy blue silk. I've got some tacking to do in order to finish the little windows.

Then I'll attach the tatting placed like this...

I hope to be done by the end of the week. I'll post pictures of the completed project. I really want to get a picture of Ophelia wearing the stole.

Lately, all my projects are gifted with one condition....
I want to be able to take them to TAT days. I enjoy sharing my work and seeing that of other tatters.

A broken record...

If I told you about the last couple days...it would sound strangely familiar. In my feeble little mind I sat quietly appreciating my work Tuesday morning. I thought to myself. You didn't make any big mistakes, you finished your ends and the edging is going to fit the hanky blank beautifully.

I'm learning that pride does not need to be spoken....just felt. No really,... I really did think these things..though momentarily... I still thought them. THEY WERE WRONG!! (ugh)

I laid the hanky out flat on the table...'matched' up the edge and...

Wonky again!!

Really?! Before closing the final repeats I counted 12, 13, 14....12, 13, 14...12, 13, 14.

Now I count 12, 13, 14...12, 13.....How in the heck has this happened?!

clip, rip, repeat.

So, now that's done here is the final product.

I'm happy with the project and can't wait to gift it. Still needing to be pressed, I will worry about that after I tote it to a few ladies for 'presentation'.

Oh, I registered for TAT days!! Really looking forward to seeing my tatting buds there. There is a chance my mom will join us this year. She's a bit nervous as she is a new tatter....I told her she'd be in heaven if she ventured out...We'll see.

Have a wonderful day!
John

A Few More Days

The edge is coming along. Only a few more days and I'll be ready to attach it to the hanky. I think it's going to fit well on the hanky...but the jury is still out on that.

To this point, I'm very pleased with the progress and the look. Mary K's patterns are so nice to work.

On another note....I need your help. I'm trying to place comments in your posts. For some, there's no problem. While with others, it's asking me to pick a profile. When I try...I'm redirected back to the sign in page...I do this...and, nothing. I can't even comment on my own page after ya'll leave comments.

Does anyone know what's going on with this?

I hope your weekend is going well!
John

On to a new project!

I've got so many projects I want to do and so little time these days. Here is the newest project. I'm tatting an edge for a friend of my mother. She had several hankies in storage and wanted to give them to me. It seems her mother did crochet edges and never used these hankies. I asked her to pick one for me to take and 'regift' her. Here is the hanky and the beginning of an edge.

I chose an edge from Mary Konior's book, "Tatting with Visual Patterns". I think this is the bride's maids pattern. I'll have to check again and let you know if it's different.

As you see, I've got a long way to go. One note...I really like the edging patterns which help you visualize the corners. Now, I just hope this will repeat 'just right' and fit the hanky I've got.

On another note, I would love to be able to respond to your wonderful comments but have been unable to do so.... I've tried everything. So, I'm at a loss on that one.

I will tell you, I'm really looking forward to TAT days this September. I hope your weekend is grand!
john

The Long Awaited

Well, well, well... The long awaited booties have arrived. These things would like to have been my demise. However, I am finished.

I need your input. Here is the finished project. I changed the 'upper' on the toe. Rather than closing the toe with the round 'florette', I decided to try and create a laced version.

What do you think?

You can see I tatted rings and joined the chains to the previous round. This was all done in hopes that the booties could be put onto the baby's foot a little easier and on different sized feet.

I hope the pictures show what I've done. Your feedback is welcomed!
john

Pride Comes Before the......

Pride comes before the.....What the heck was I thinking?!?!

There I was...so proud of my accomplishment. I finished the next row on the tiny little booty. Calm, content, and at peace with myself. I HAD EVEN FINISHED THE ENDS!



As I sat and prepared to start the same row on the second booty I suddenly thought...OMG... John, did it ever occur to you to read the directions CAREFULLY?!

I tatted the last row on booty one opposite of the directions. Join chain to previous row...NOT JOIN RING! (hopefully, you're sensing my frustration)

Here's how it should be going...


And now, the two together. REALLY?!


It's been awhile since I tatted this pattern....but, REALLY?!

Needless to say, this morning I finally got up the energy to cut off the entire row. Tiny little pieces of thread...piled on the table next to me. What's worse is that on the last ring of the second booty in the same tragic round....I tatted one too many rings...more cutting and work to figure what the heck to do.....

Tatting is still restful and peaceful for me (I keep telling myself this)...I just find it difficult to sit in my chair in the summer when there is so much to be doing outside.

Does anyone know a good therapist? (for those that don't know...that's what I do) I think it's my turn for the breathing exercises.

Summer reintroduction...

So, I just looked an found that my last post was May 22nd. An unbelievable lapse in time. Summer gets in the way of my social networking.... Actually, I've been tatting, just on some of the same projects ya'll have seen before. I've been working to complete several sets of the tatted motifs for cleric stoles and now have two complete sets.

Recently, I've been working on baby booties again. This time, as usual, one of my coworkers is having a baby and I would love to gift her a pair of booties. Many of you have seen these before coming from me. So, please forgive me if you have...but I wanted to stay in touch and let you see the progress.



I'm trying to figure out how to increase the size of the pattern. Therefore, I've added two rings in the first round hoping to first increase the length and maybe the finished width. We'll see how much this adds to the final size.

Other than tatting, my family and I went on our annual camping/hiking trip during the month of June. It was an amazing time. Sometimes I think we camp not necessarily for the moment...rather, we camp for the memories. The storms, the poison ivy, no phone, no lights, no motor cars..... But we always end up reminiscing and laughing (alot!).



We went to the Smokey Mountain National park this year and had a wonderful week filled with many memories. This photo was on our last day, just before we left (and after a night of storms). We visited Clingman's Dome just to see the wonderful panorama.



And here is the family. I got everyone to settle for just a minute as we invited innocent passers by to take our photo. Just like herding cats. We had alot of fun.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!