Let's have some fun

This Giveaway is Over.

Mother's Day is just round the corner and I am feeling generous.   

Let's have some fun with a giveaway.

Remember this Primrose Path doily from the previous post? That's right, I am putting this up as a giveaway.

Add to that, a book too, woo whoooo!

Celtic Tatting Knots and Patterns by Rozella Linden.

Now what good is a book of tatting patterns if you don't have any thread.  So, in goes two balls of Olympus 40.

And when you are done playing with the patterns in the book, have a go at using plastic cabone rings with your tatting.

I think that should be enough to stir some excitement.

Now for the rules of the giveaway .... nothing complicated.
Indicate your interest by leaving a comment on this post and this post only.  I will be putting up information about this giveaway in some groups and forum but commentors or posts made in the groups/forum will not be included in the drawing list.

Please leave a method that I can contact you with.  I was reminded that putting up an actual e-mail address may be open to risks, so you may want to disguise it in some way.  Or, you can send me an e-mail with your contactable e-mail address to jonyusoff @ yahoo.com (remove the spaces before and after @).  It would be much better if you have a blog and I can leave a comment on your blog if you are a winner.

One comment will earn only one entry per commentor in the drawing.  Mentioning this giveaway in your blog or other sites will not earn additional inclusion in the drawing, but if you do mention it, I appreciate it very much.  I will go through each comment and will decide whether it can be accepted or not.  I have been receiving some spam comments lately and have been watchful of them.

The giveaway is open from today Friday, April 30th until midnight of Saturday, May 8th determined by the time zone GMT+8.  The drawing will be by that random generator thingy and the result will be announced on Sunday May 9th.

I have not decided if I want to go along the way of Jane E's giveaway and not post the comments.  I'll see later how I feel about it.

Primrose Path Completed

The thread used for  this Mary Konior deasign are Altin Basak #50, 3051 for the flower motifs and 312 for the border.  The finished size is approximately 16.5cm across.  I was being very good while making this, I hide the ends immediately after each motif,

Continuing on Colours in Tatting

After reading the comments on the earlier post regarding colours, I decided to be practical and make some samples for comparison.

It started with this one all done in white, but with beads added in.  Tatted with size 20 thread, this snowflake measures about 20cm across.

This second one is using the Lizbeth threads that I received from PaulaC.  It is a mix of solid and multi-coloured.  This is also in size 20.  I was working off the ball for this and had to do a SLT for one of the rings in each repeat.  I don't really like to use the SLT in this design because it causes a kink in the chain.  If you look closely, you should be able to pick out where I did the SLT.

And for the final one, I decided to go totally variegated and use one of my HDTs.  I can't remember what and whose thread this is because the tag has fallen off.  It feels like a size 40.  The finished motif measures about 8.5cm across.  Again, here I worked it with shuttle and ball, but this time I loaded the HDT on one of the EZ-bobs.  I did not have to use the SLT this time.  Instead I use the EZ-bob as a shuttle to make the particular rings that I had used the SLT for before.

I can't really decide which one I like best.  

The one in white brought up a centre design that is not so obvious in the other two.  

The solid in the 2nd piece draws attention to an outline of each branch of the snowflake.  

These two points may not be easily seen in the 3rd version but it is pretty on its own for the lovely shades of the HDT.

In the end, it depends on the tatter to choose the thread but a little imagination and some creative thoughts can produce an impactful tatting.

EZ bobs and floss threaders

In my previous post, Tatting-marie asked about the EZ bobs and how they are used. Here is a picture of the EZ bobs that I received form PaulaC.

I have heard of EZ bobs before and seen pictures of it but have never used one.  I was rather excited when Paula C sent me some. They are made of soft plastic, round-shaped with a hole in the middle like a doughnut, flat on one side and curved on the other.  They can be clicked on to each other and stacked up for neat storage.

As for how it is used, they are nifty gadgets for storing threads especially my HDTs.  As you can see in the picture, the curved side of the EZ bob can be turned over and you can wind your thread or yarn round the middle.  When not in used, the curved side can be returned to its original position and the thread is enclosed in the EZ bobs, safe from dust or accidental unwinding. Neat, huh!

Coretta asked how the I used the floss threaders.  Well, they are for stringing beads on the thread when I tat with beads.  Here is how I use a floss threader for beading.

 

The floss threaders can also be used for hiding ends the Magic Thread method.  You can see how it is used in my earlier post here.

Thank you to Crazy Mom Tats for a more detail instructions on how to use the floss threader in the magic thread method of hiding ends.  Click here to read it.

Exchange and Giveaway Gifts

I have been on the receiving end of a couple of lovely gifts recently.

First up is this collection from Diane Merlock in the US.  

This is from an exchange in the Needle-and-Cratfs group to mark the 3rd anniversary of the setting up of the group.  I received a needlebook with some needles included and a fob, both finely stitched by Diane.  Diane has included some embroidery floss in the same shades as the thread used to stitch the needlebook and the fob.Since I don't stitch myself, I will probably split up the skeins of floss and use them for tatting.

Attached to the fob is a pendant thread cutter, which has been in my wishlist for the longest of time. Also included is a pair of scissors with its casing.  Thank you, Diane.

The other is from Paula of Needles, Hooks & Paperback Books. I won the giveaway that Paula hosted in her blog in March.

I received two balls of Lizbeth in size 20, Spring Green (680) and Springtime (115). Then there are the two shuttles also in spring colours.  a stack of EZ bobs (10 pieces), a tube of hand cream and a pretty card with roses on it.

There was supposed to be a bar of dark chocolate with this, but I told Paula that she need not send it because it will just melt by the time it arrives. When Paula asked if I needed anything in place of the chocolate, I asked for the floss threaders.  I have been tatting with beads a lot lately and I only have a few of the floss threaders left.  I can't find this type of floss threaders here.  What I have been using were also part of an exchange.  What Paula sent me is going to last me quite a while. Avery generous gift from Paula, thank you.

I have made something using the Lizbeth thread which I will show in the next post.

Question of Colours

Take a look at this and see if you agree with me that the colours are really chaotic here,

This thread is a Lizbeth sample that I receive from Handy Hands together with my order many months back.  I have not used it mainly because of the colour mix.  Individually, I could have liked the shades but when put together like this, it is too much for me to handle.  I decided to give it a go just to have a feel of Lizbeth since most tatters have shown a liking for it.

My first feel of this size 20 thread is that it is like Flora and I am not taken by it yet.  I need to play with it a few more times to see if it will grow on me.

Now, back to the tatting above.  Like I said, the colours are very chaotic.  I can barely make out the shape of the design because the change in the shades are too stark and sudden.  The colours are distracting me from  the design itself.

Compare it to this one below,

I tatted the design again, now in two colours.  Here, the design is more defined and the shape clear cut. BTW, the thread used here are Olympus 40.

And the point if this exercise is to gather opinions of fellow tatters on this question -

How does colours shape your opinion of a tatting design?  Do you see the colours first then the design, or the other way round?

Granted that my choice of the multi-coloured thread for the first sample may be extreme, and that I have used solid colours for the second model, but the next point to ponder is,
Do you make a study of the design before choosing the thread, whether it would look good with variegated/mix coloured, or solids? 
Or, do you just pick a favorite thread and start tatting?

As for my own thoughts, I feel that variegated/multi-coloured are better suited for a sparse design, or one where the blank spaces in the design compliments the tatted portion.  I would not use variegated/mix-coloured where there are many switching of shuttles because of the many breaks in the colour flow of the thread, unless you keep with the SLTs.  I would consider varigated/mix-coloured for a design that have more chains than rings because colour flows are reflected better in chains rather than rings.

These are my own personal views.  I would love to read how you see colours in tatting.

Diane made me do this!

LOL, but it is true!
Diane posted her finished Primrose Path in her blog and it looked stunning.  Her tatting is impeccable. I felt inspired to have a go at it .... again.  That's right! I have attempted this Mary Konior's pattern before, but was overwhelmed by the many ends that needed hiding.  You can read about my first attempt here.

I learned my lesson from that experience and have been careful not to leave my ends hanging around for long after I have completed my tatting.  Before starting on something new, I also make an effort to study the design/chart to see if I can incorporate use of split ring and split chain to avoid having the extra ends to hide. This have help in reducing the number of ends.

So, back to the point - this is my second attempt of the Primrose Path,

I am using Altin Basak #50 for this.  The first four sets of the flower motifs tatted up surprisingly fast.  I remember that Diane wrote (quoting Sharon) about being careful of where to start the first ring when using variegated thread. Except for a small white speck, I think I did quite well with the distribution of the shades for the centre of the design.

I am working on the chain rounds now and will show that next time.

Smileys used in this post are available from this site, FreeSmileys

Frivolity

Another attempt with the front/back side tatting?  No, not really.
What about right/left hand tatting? Because that was what I did to get this short strip of tatting.

That's right.  The top row was tatted right-handed (right hand holding the shuttle) and the bottom row was made left-handed. The result is like front/back side tatting.

Now, why would I do something like that?  For no other reason other than being silly, that's why.

I have to say that it was difficult at the beginning.  My fingers on the right hand struggled to control the thread from slipping off.  Balancing the tension of the shuttle thread and the finger thread as I slide the first half-stitch to the pinch was a struggle.  I couldn't move the finger pinch forward as the double-stitches are formed because when I do the loop just slipped off the fingers.  Almost butchered the picots in the process of making the joins.

But, I did it!!!

Okay, enough of the frivolousness. Let's look at the real frivolité

This looks like the traditional one-shuttle edging in the first picture but not quite the same.  I think it looks pretty quaint.