Celebration!

Last Saturday was a celebration of sorts for a group of crafters.  It is the 5th Anniversary of the formation of the yahoo group Needle n Crafts which was held at one of the member's house in Kajang.  Thank you Mel for hosting this year's anniversary meet.

As with the previous anniversaries, there were gift exchanges and door gifts given out.  It was a good opportunity for members who attended to show off their skills (as if there needs to be a reason).  It was set that all who participated in the gift exchange to bring a bird that is made from any kind of craft. And, I think you will agree from the look of the birds below, that they are a crafty lot, in a good meaning of the word.

 Besides the gift exchange, there are door gifts for everyone present contributed by some of the members.  So even if some, like me, who did not participate in the gift exchange, we still took home some lovely items too.

From Nik - sewing needles, pins and tailor chalk; from Margaret - Handmade stamped pin cushion; from Usha - crocheted pin cushion; from Lillie - another disc of pins and a yarn snipper

Diane sent from the US - 3 skeins of floss and a packet of peach tea; Paul gave a couple of sewing thread; from Mel - a roll of fabric tape and self-threading needle; and Radha contributed a roll of ribbon

Sally wove baggage tags; Vivian shared some of her craft papers; and Shanny sent in a fabric purse all the way from Switzerland.

Even though I did not participate in the gift exchange, I too received a bird from Margaret.

 And, can you believe this, I was excited to see the plastic that the bird was wrapped in!  It got me thinking - they look like crochet but can the designs be tatted?

On my part my contribution for the door gifts are these,

Tatted one pair in each shade of Lizbeth size 40, left to right: 108 Sherbet Delight, 127 Butterfly Breeze, 132 Tropical punch, 109 Wildflower, 140 Turquoise Twist, 100 Falling Leaves, 138 Leafy Green, 131 Vineyard Harvest and 114 Seashells.

They are bookmarks tatted from the Mary Konior's "Anniversary" pattern from the book Tatting with Visual Patterns.  I think the name is appropriate since we were celebrating an anniversary too. I also tatted a pair in 140 Country Grape Swirl but did not take a photo of them.

But, these are not all.  Mel, the gracious host, also gave out these to everyone,

The cupcake is a dustcloth to remove static (e.g. from pc screen), huge buttons and a frame pin cushion.

It was like in craft heaven!
Thank you Mel for being a lovely host. Thank you everyone present for making it a wonderful morning.

And lastly, I wore this kilt pin brooch that day, which I made the night before.

More Tatting Goodies .... he he he .....

I received my giveaway prize from Aileen.  She wrote about giving away "bombs" to celebrate her birthday in March.  These are what Aileen packed in her bomb.

As you can see, these are all very useful gift.  One can never get enough of thread and beads and shuttles.  As you can see I used the shuttle immediately to start on a new project. The Ez-bob will be for my one of my HDTs that are still in skeins, when I have a project for it.  The needle holder are, what else but to hold my needles.
Aileen packed the shuttle in the small black pouch, which I will do the same to stow my shuttle when I travel. The Merlion frodge magnet will go on the fridge.  It will join the many magnets on my fridge right now from the different places that I have been.

Now, that rubber thimble (or it could be plastic,?), this one I am not sure.  It fits nicely over my pinky so it may be to protect it when I wound thread over the pinky when making chains, like this:

But, I don't wind the thread over my pinky when I make chains, so it doesn't look like that is how I will use the thimble. Or, over my middle finger when making rings, like this,

Surprisingly, the thread slides very well over the thimble, so this will be the best way to use it. It will certainly prevent  the thread from cutting into the finger, especially when working with fine thread. Except that, now I may need to find another one because, for chains I use my fore-finger to control the thread. Hmm ....

Anyway, thank you Aileen for a wonderful package.

Something Fishy in the Mailbox

I am glad I joined the special Online Tatting class on International Tatting Day two weeks ago.  There was no lessons on that day, you can't really tat and eat chocolates at the same time, really.   Instead, Georgia had a few games and challenges going.  One of the prizes for the challenges was sponsored by Isdihara, and I won it! he he he ...  These are what I received form her,

Chocolate fish, a blinged shuttle, a card and a piece of tatting

Closer picture - even the card has chocolate fishes on it.

Yes, a chocolate fish!  It didn't quite last the long trip, from a temperate climate to the tropics, cause it melted some when it arrived.  I had thought that Isdihara was going to send me a fish shuttle, not the fish chocolate, LOL.  Otherwise I would have mentioned about the warm temperatures here.

I have read so many posts about the blinged shuttles, in so many blogs and now I have one of my own, woo hoo.... Thank you Isdihara, for everything in the package. Melted or not, the chocolate is quite tasty - my favorite kind with cripsy crunch candy in it.

The Wedding Pt 2 & Singapore

Got all my material ready for the tatting to make the bunga rampai container to be used as part of the wedding gifts.

I made another design for the bunga rampai container.  This time I used a small cup/glass and designed an edging to surround the cup.

I tatted the same pattern for both green and purple but somehow it turned out differently when I place round the cup.  When I placed on the green one, it turned away from the cup.  Then I tatted the purple one and  place it on the cup it hugs the cup.  Now I am not sure which one looks better.  I plan to tat a smaller edging to place round the lip of the cup.  I don't have the design yet for it though, maybe I'll use the evergreen hen-and-chicks.

The thread that I will be using for this wedding project is Milford Mercer size 20 which I bought in Singapore.  I like the Milford thread because it is 6-ply. Over here, only the Cebelia has many colour choices, but thay are 3-ply and I don't really prefer tatting with 3-ply thread.  Getting the milford was not the only reason to go to Singapore, though.

Sheila, Jessica and me

I was not able to meet with Sheila when I was in the UK at the end of last year, even though I had planned to. As Sheila regularly visit Singapore, I decided to make the trip to meet her there when she wrote to say that she will be coming over. We agreed to meet in Spotlight, where I bought the Milfords.  As I also wanted to get some beads, Sheila suggested that we go to Arab Street for them.  That is where I got the green and purple beads.  I could have spent the whole day at Arab Street, if only for the beads and the findings and the notions, but that will have to be for another day.

From Arab Street we adjourned to Raffles Hotel for some tatting talk over tea.

Sheila and me at Raffles Hotel cafe chatting over tea

That was when Sheila brought out all the goodies.

Tatted hankie from Sheila

I received this pretty hankie from Sheila with tatted edging. Sheila then challenged me to produce something equal of her high quality work by giving me the pattern for the edging and a blank hankie.

Note: the tatting is not the edging for the hankie

Jessica showed a very pretty and delicate doily, about 10 inches wide, made with size 80 thread which I forgot to take a picture of.  I was ashamed to admit to both of them that I don't tat with size 80 much. Then there are these wonderful books by Pam Palmer.

Tatting Treats and Festive Elephants by Pam Palmer

That was one happy tatter who returned home that day, he he he ....

And happier still when, on the next day,  the postie delivered my pop-a-bobbin shuttle that I had ordered from Jane.  This one is in ebony.  This new pop-a-bobbin is slightly slimmer in size that the earlier one that I bought.  I like the new size better.

Now I get it!

Finally understood the single-shuttle split ring, or SSSR.  I tried a few times before but never could follow the instructions.  I was on chat in InTatters with Cannalure and Soyloquesoy and casually mentioned that I am having problems with the SSSR.  Being good tatters, as all tatters are, they guided me through as I attempted it and finally managed to get it done.

And to prove that I really did it, here are some of my attempts,

The creative mind then sets in and I decided to try adding beads.  First I made it using bugle beads, shown in the middle in the picture above.  Then I made another sample using seed beads.  I should have used another thread with the seed beads because it didn't show up very well with this thread.

I think I like the bugle beads better.  I can imagine pretty bracelets with some fancy beads made with this method, maybe two or three rows joined together side by side.

A note about the SSSR.  There was some discussion earlier about posting the shuttle through the loop before closing a ring.  I don't do that when closing my rings.  However, for this SSSR, I find that the ring looks better when I post the shuttle through before closing the ring.

Another happy note, the postman dropped me a few goodies this past 30 days.

My first order of Lizbeth thread was the first to arrive. I have never bought any Lizbeth before though I have tatted with it using thread that I received as gifts.   BJ, the Sanguine Stitcher gave me a discount coupon from Handy Hands and I ordered these.  These are part of my birthday present form BJ.

Lizbeth all in size 40

The other part is this.  BJ is an expert quilter and she made a quilted carrier bag that is just nice for me to carry my tatting.There is also a needlebook, a ball of Cebelia and a book titled 'Gardens'.

Birthday present from BJ

Diane promised to send me some EZ-bobs when she read that I could not find any of them here. And they are the next thing to arrive.  Boy, did she send me some!  24 pieces in all.  Certainly more than what I was expecting.  Thank you Diane.

EZ-bobs from Diane

Finally, I ordered Ruth Scharf books from Georgia and they arrived the same day as Diane's EZ-bobs.  I was trying to figure out how to read the patterns because they are all in German.  Luckily, I received an e-mail from Georgia with some English translations of the German tatting terms.

Ruth Scharf books

All in, it was a good 30 days.

A Promise is Made

Last Sunday was a joyous day in the family when my niece got engaged.  In eastern cultures, an engagement is not just about a boy giving a girl a ring and she accepts, end of story.  Here, it is an occasion that involves the whole family, requiring lots of preparation that culminates with a ceremony of placing the ring on the girl's finger.

It begins with a merisik, where a representative of the boy's family meet the girl's parents to enquire is she has been promised to anyone.  Once it has been ascertained that she is not yet betrothed, a date is fixed for the boy's family to come and formally ask for the girl's hand.  This is called meminang where the date of the engagement ceremony is set.

On the fixed date a delegation from the boy's family arrive at the girl's house bringing the ring and other gifts for the girl.   Usually the gifts will be in odd numbers, from 3,7,9, and so on.   On the part of the girl, there will also be gifts given in return, usually two more than received. This ceremony is termed the bertunang. At this time the date of the wedding or the duration of the engagement is decided and the terms of the dowry is set down.  Another interesting aspect is that, if the girl who is getting married has older unmarried sisters, then gifts are also given to the sisters. And, the boy is not present during any of the ceremonies.  His appearance is only required during the wedding.  The ring is placed on the girl's finger by the mother of the boy or any senior female relative.

But in these modern times, a lot of the steps involved are reduced or combined into one ceremony.  The merisik, for example is not carried out because the boy and the girl usually would have known each other much earlier.  How else would they have decided to get married!

Anyway, in the case of my niece, we agreed to prepare seven trays of gifts and receive five trays in return. Here are the gifts from the girl's family. As you can see great effort is taken to dress up the gifts for the presentation. 

As to what make up the gifts depends on the status of the families.  They can be really expensive or simple ones.  In this case, among what we have prepared are a tray of cupcakes, a box of chocolates, a piece of material for the wedding attire later, a basket of fruits, a prayer mat and basket of traditional sweets. And the mandatory one is the ring.  Yes, the boy also gets an engagement ring from the girl.

And this is what was received from the boy's family,

The most important item from the boy's family is the tray shown right in front.  A bigger picture is shown below.

This is the tepak sirih or a betel leaf set.  The tepak sireh is an important part of the Malay culture. It has been used in all customs and traditions since way back when, as an opener to what will be discussed.  If you imagine having a discussion over a cup of tea, then the tepak sireh is that cup of tea.  In olden times, the folks would actually prepare the betel leaf and ate it as they conduct the meeting or discussion but that is not done anymore.

This is a photo of my niece with the engagement gifts, anxiously waiting for the arrival of her future in-laws.

If you have managed to stay on this far, you must be wondering, "Is there any tatting in this?'  after all it is a tatting blog.  Well, there is, a teeny tiny piece here.

Where?

Here is the close up.  It is the tray that holds the engagement ring.  I made the ring holder and decided to add a small circle of tatting to surround the ring.

The sequel to this post will be about the wedding.

I didn't make these, but aren't they pretty?

Just a quick one that I just have to share.

I received this lovely shawl from Radha, a crafting buddy from Alor Setar, a city in the north of Malaysia.  I have only met Radha once before when she came down to Kuala Lumpur to meet with a group of us for a stitching bee.  During that meeting, Radha gave a demo of hairpin lace.  Hairpin lace is something that I have always wanted to try, especially with tatting thread, but never got round to really making the effort of learning how to.  I was very, very surprised to received this a few weeks back.  Thank you Radha.

This piece was also made by someone from Alor Setar.  Jacee and I got to know each other through the internet but we have never met.  I asked her if I can view some of her work but she does not have a blog.  Instead she sent me a picture of this 'Patchwork' mat made from a pattern by Mary Koinor.  It is too pretty not to show it to the rest of the tatting world, so I asked her if I can post the picture in my blog.  Lucky me and you, that she agreed.

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.

Thread Heaven aaahh........

I was lucky to receive some heavenly HDTs in the last few days.

The first one is this Pink Rose that I received from Zarina.   Zarina offered a selection of her HDTs to be tested and I jumped right in with my choice.

This is the same thread that TattingChic blogged about earlier.  This thread is size 20.  I was so excited to receive this thread that I immediately open it up and tatted up this snowflake.  It was wonderful to tat with.  I like how the snowflake tatted up with the sprinkling of green over the pink.

The second delivery was even more heavenly.  These were from Pamela, Tatskool.  Pamela and I, we had an arrangement between us.  When I was working on the book, Tatting With Rings, I send a file of the draft for Pamela to give her once over.  I was elated when Pamela suggested a swap, my book for her threads, even before she knew the price for the book.  This is an opportunity that I was not going to let pass. 

I never actually say how many of Pamela's HDT that I wanted, but was surprised to received these!!!

Top to bottom:

1. ChocoRaspberry

2. Raspberry Sorbet

3. Raspberry and Chocolate Mousse

4. Raspberry Ripple and Real Vanilla

5. Chocolate Sauce

6. Chocolime

7. Key Lime

Pamela dear, You are so generous.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Birthday presents

I treated myself to some birthday presents and it finally arrived a few days back. Here are what I got for me, moi, myself .... he he he....

 

They are a few tubes of seed beads, several strands of glass beads and a couple of strings of mother of pearls from Foxyfindings.com

Even as I have not gotten over the excitement of receiving my orders, I received this 'treasure chest' from Ellen as my birthday exchange gifts.

 and it opens up to show these

 

I am also fortunate to receive one of Ellen's birthday card because I've admired many of her handmade cards that she had shown in her blog.  There are also aphabet cutouts that spells my name.  I don't how I am going to use them yet.

 

Ellen has included a pretty bookmark and several tatted motif with magnets.  Very clever idea.

Thank you Ellen

Doily and Gifts

Finally finished the round of the doily that is made up of small round motifs.


I am a bit apprehensive about the next round though. You see, it requires leaving bare thread between rings. I am never good at estimating how much thread I need to leave before making the next ring. They are seldom of consistent length, sometimes longer and sometimes shorter than it should be. Does anyone have any tips to make then of regular length?

Then, there is the problem regarding tension. My rings are usually closed quite tight. I anticipate a number of re-dos before I can get it right.

Or, the easy way out - I can just stop here. It doesn't look too bad as it is, although there are four more rounds to go. It is quite large enough already at 24cm (9.5 inches) across.

What say you all - do I continue or stop here?

On a another, happier note - I received some lovely thread from Ulla in Sweden. Ulla wrote in the ShuttleandNeedles Yahoo group offering some thread to anyone interested. All we needed to do was e-mail our addresses, which I did promptly.

And these are what I received. Five balls of Altin Basak thread in size 50 in such beautiful colours. Thank you Ulla.


As you can see, I have started something with them. It is the beginning of the 'Arches' doily from the Yarnplayer. The pattern for the doily is here.

Presents for Meeeee!!

I am enjoying looking at the different interpretations of my Quantiesque snowflake. It is so amazing how one single pattern can give varied results by the different thread used. I must say that this design is becoming my favorite design even though I have only made one piece, LOL.

It would be a shame not to share the all the wonderful work done with this pattern. What I plan to do now is post the photos of the different variation here in my blog. It is sort of like a present back to me from each one of you.

Since I do not yet have the permission to display the actual photo, I will provide links to the respective blogs where they are shown. If your blog is in the list, I would very much like your permission to post your picture of the snowflake. And if I have missed yours, please let me know about it because I really, really want to add it in here.

Here it is again, the original piece in Coral Reef, size 40

A pretty one from Mary McCarthy - the white and red in the centre is pulling me to this.

And some more, in no particular order. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Joy - purity in white
Tattycat 1, Tattycat 2, Tattycat 3 - you can't stop with one, can you? LOL
Riet - gold is grand
Heather - your 'sorts of' are looking good too ;-)
Clyde - thank you for adding in the recommendation.
Pamela - scroll down to the end, if you can make through the eye-fest before it, LOL
Steph - the black in the centre is attracting attention

These are what I managed to get by going through the Tatted Ring of Bloggers.