Lockdown projects part 5, during Melbourne’s lockdown 5.0

Hello friends. Much has happened in the last few months in Melbourne. We have had another 2 lockdowns, but in between I have managed to squeeze in full time work, a little holiday, getting immunised and a lot of crafting.

The beginning of a yarn bombing project. Off white acrylic mixed with a baby colour eyelash acrylic yarn, made to look like blocks. This will cover a bicycle pole.

Near the end of 2020 the yarn bombing group I am part of, Yarn Corner, put out a call for pieces for an installation outside one of my favourite stores, Unwind Craft cafe in Keilor. The install for this was delayed due to lockdowns, but a week ago we finally got to install approx 68 pieces. The feedback from locals was so overwhelmingly positive, making it worth the wait to make this happen. Here a link to the full album from yarn corner https://www.facebook.com/239600219420054/posts/4219556588091044/

My yarn bomb installed.

I’ve also had a bit of my patience return, and have dipped back into my tatting. Just a few small pieces, but I can feel my mojo returning. I am hoping to begin Mike Lyons’ Lagniappe large doily. I have chosen my colours and started to read the pattern closely, so you should be able to see some progress there soon. Below are a couple of pictures of one of the bookmarks I have recently made. I finished while we were on a short holiday and played a game of thread chicken to complete it without refilling a shuttle.

Just barely winning thread chicken on a pretty blue tatted bookmark. A Julie Paterson pattern, made in size 40 AleanaLea thread.

A close up picture of just how close this game of thread chicken was.

The finished tatted bookmark.

After a busy semester my family and I were pleased to be able to take a short holiday in country Victoria. We stayed at a beautifully restored, absolutely charming, at deco holiday house for a few days. It was just the thing we needed to unwind and reconnect. Here are some pictures of the lovely house, and view from the window.

Cosy lounge room in the holiday accommodation.

Pretty window with lovely geometric glass panels.

Very pretty view from the front windows! I think this is a Rosella in the tree.

Everything in the house was carefully curated.

Oh, and the house was pet friendly too. Here is Micah, our Cairn Terrier, looking like the king of the castle on his cushion.

Well, this house inspired another project, and I will write my next post about it soon.

Until then, happy crafting.

Fiona T

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Finishing lock down projects part 4

Hello again friends. I keep looking through my photo gallery and craft cupboard and finding more items I worked on last year. I will continue to blog them over the next few weeks. This week I’ll cast back to show a comparative project: the same pattern made in a plain and a variegated thread. The pattern is Linda. S. Davies “oval doily in Ecru” it uses split rings and split chains, reducing the number of ends to deal with. Link to Linda’s clever design here: http://toptattyhead.blogspot.com/http://toptattyhead.blogspot.com/ look on the right of the page for free pattern links, and click on oval doily. This will download the pdf instantly for you. Thanks Linda for an amazing pattern.

I made this variegated version a couple of years ago. I love it as it reminds me of confetti or fairy sprinkles. I blogged about the finished version here: https://onemadtatter.wordpress.com/2019/10/06/winner-of-spring-craft-give-away/

I have recently finished the solid colour version of this. The thread is altin basak 50 in a fuschia colour.

I like how both of these have turned out. I might try one with the combination of variegated and solid colours that I am starting to use on more of these larger doilies. The only problem will be when using a split ring to climb out of a round, the ring will be a combination of colours. I’m sure I can figure out a way around this problem, as I really like how the variegated thread can make the solid colour pop, like in this “Amanda” doily from Laura Bziukiewicz on face book.

Amanda doily pattern from Laura Bziukiewicz on Facebook, thread is size 40 variegated wildflower and solid lilac from AlenaLea tatting on Etsy.

I enjoyed making these doilies. As always, the joy of tatting is in the process; choosing thread and colours, choosing the right size and type of shuttle, winding the shuttle, beginning the rings and chains, feeling every stitch form under my fingers, sliding the stitches to make the ring, snugging up the stitches to get the chain to curve the right way, holding my breath to make sure the split rings or chains don’t knot as I make them, relief when I climb out with a faux picot, and when it is all complete that feeling of pride at the heirloom I have made. Then, the inevitable longing to start the next project and do it all again!

I wonder what aspects of tatting, or crafting, keep you enthralled?

Until next time, happy tatting

Fiona T

Finishing lockdown projects part 2

Last week I blogged about some of the craft I had begun or completed during the pandemic.  Today I’ll show a few more pictures of finished projects.  But first here is a project that has been in the naughty corner for a couple of years, the tatted clock.  I am abandoning this one for now,  as the final step was to join all the pieces together. There was one major problem,  the centre of the doily is too small for the clock work to fit through. Back to the naughty corner for it, for now.

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Next, this crochet project brought me great joy to be a part of. The Scheepjes Natural History CAL 2020 was a wonderful crafting  experience.  I have tried over the last few years to join these CALs, but trying to fit it in with family,  work and writing my PhD just didn’t work.  Finally,  despite the pandemic, I was able to make the time to spend each week with the CAL, and Esther’s fabulous video tutorials. It took me until the beginning of March to finish the whole blanket,  and I loved every minute of it. 

It was based on the book “All the light we cannot see” By Anthony Doerr. It ticked all of my science, history, museum and craft interest boxes, so I had to take part in the read along and crochet along too. I found myself wondering,  more than once,  just what the main character, who is blind,  would interpret from the richly textured blanket we created. 

I enjoyed the journey of making this blanket, from receiving my kit in the mail, to using the stonewashed wool for the first time, to changing the little elephant motif to dinosaurs for a section of the blanket, as some creative people shared their ideas for adaptations on the international facebook group. You can find out more from: https://www.scheepjes.com/en/cals-and-mals/scheepjes-cals/scheepjes-cal-2020/information/

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My progress pictures from the mineralogy Scheepjes Natural History Museum CAL 2020

My completed Scheepjes Mineralogy Natural History Museum CAL completed blanket.

I’m now picking up my ubuntu kit again, and hope to make some visible progress there too. I’ve also completed the fuschia doily, so will blog about that journey next time.

Until next time, happy crafting,

Fiona T

2021- finishing off lockdown projects

It is fair to say living through a global pandemic has put us all in a bit of a spin. What were normal routines have been disrupted by lockdowns and uncertainty. I live in Melbourne, so we had extended periods of severe restrictions and lockdowns across 2020. I was relieved to be able to work from home, learning to teach my secondary students remotely. Like many of you, my crafty friends, I was also appreciative of having my crafts at hand to support my mental well being.

I was crafting regularly, but found at different times I couldn’t concentrate on some patterns. So I scaled down my expectations and used some basic patterns to make sure I could still get my crafting fix. I’ve ended up with at least one of each of a basic knitted, crochet and tatting project on the go at most times across the last year.

I have realised that I didn’t blog much at all last year. I did spend a lot of time on various projects, and photographed many of them, but just didn’t get around to the blogging part. Over the next few weeks I will share some of my projects.

Near the beginning of the year I was lucky enough to win a shuttle give away from Lorraine Kolusa for valentine’s day. It took a while for the shuttle to travel across the world, but when it arrived I was really happy to have such a lovely shuttle in my care. I had wound it thinking I would use it for Jon’s Threads that bind doily, but have ended up using it more recently for Laura’s Amanda doily.

The beautiful Valentine Shuttle

Valentine shuttle loaded and ready to tat.

Amanda Doily from Laura Bziukiewicz on Facebook. Made in size 40 thread, mauve lizbeth colour 632 and Alenalea wildflower.

I also made two lovely crocheted items with Scheepjes whirls. First a Grinda Shawl, made in a woolly whirl for my Mum.

Grinda Shawl in progress

And second a granny square baby blanket for a family friend. I was going to use the bakewell blanket pattern, but it was one that was too complicated for me during the second lockdown. Though I did manage the bakewell pattern during the first lockdown.

A successful bakewell baby blanket, in an acrylic 8ply.

I also had some knitting projects, with an “in threes” baby jacket and three knitted “can I borrow that” scarves which I made as part of a knit along through Unwind cafe.

That’s probably enough for today’s blog. I’ll upload some more projects soon.

Happy crafting,

Fiona T

Tatting along-Serwetka Arleta

At the moment I am tatting a sweet little pattern from Laura Bziukiewicz which she has shared through a facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/983262432055451/?active_tab=discussion

You will need to join the facebook event and message Laura for the pattern if you would like to tat along too.

It is a nice pattern for a beginner, and I have levelled it up a little by using split chains to climb out of rows. I am working on round four now, and it is coming along nicely.

Round one of the Arleta tatted doily, in size 20 Gorgeous Alenalea thread.

Round two of Round one of the Arleta tatted doily, in size 20 Gorgeous Alenalea thread.

Round three Round one of the Arleta tatted doily, in size 20 Gorgeous Alenalea thread.

Laura has also released a few patterns on her facebook page, all of them look lovely. I hope to finish this one soon so I can try another that has caught my eye. Thank you Laura for sharing your talents with all of us!

Until next time, happy tatting

Fiona T

Pretty blue doily edge finished

This lovely little doily just needs the ends sewn in and a little blocking. It is from a Russian translation of an Italian book, gifted to me by a kind friend.

Blue doily edge. From Russian/Italian pattern. Size 50 Altin basak blue thread paired with Lizbeth 40 rainbow taffy.

This has been my standby project, so I will need to find something else to have in its place.

Edit: here is an image of the book cover, as requested in the comments.

I haven’t been tatting very much this year as I have been time crocheting and knitting. One of the bigger pieces I made was a crocheted item for a commissioned yarn bombing at a shopping centre. It was a fun project to be part of.

I do miss my shuttles though, so I hope to have some of the new coloured threads on my shuttle soon to share some eye candy with you.

Until next time

Happy tatting

Fiona T

The last Tat it and See from Jane

Well, I tried to make it last as long as I could, but I finished off the tat it and see (TIAS) this weekend. The cute little mermaid is finished. A huge thanks to Jane Eborall for once again planning, designing, diagramming and hosting this fun little project.  Here is a picture of my little mermaid, with her flowing green hair.

The images below shoe the progression of the project since January, when the pattern was released in small parts over on the TIAS blog. The guessing game that runs along side the pattern release is also fun to follow, with some creative tatters making images and poems to share their ideas too.

Did you take part in the TIAS this year? Feel free to link to your own blog in the comments to share your experiences too.

Until next time,

Happy tatting

Fiona T

 

Sending tatted squares to Brussels

There are a couple of big events happening in the international world of tatting at the moment. One is Jane’s Tat It and See game, which I have blogged about here a few days ago. The other is a new idea, Cathy from Brussels has invited the tatting community to contribute 10,000 tatted squares to be stitched together to cover a brussels monument later in 2018, during the world lace congress. To find out more about Cathy’s idea and get involved yourself, these links may help: http://www.canarithy.be/cinema.php and Cathy’s facebook page:  www.facebook.com/canarithy

Those who follow my page on facebook have already seen the progress of my squares. I managed to make nineteen squares from the skein of pink hand dyed #20 thread I bought from Alenalea. I usually work in #40 or #50 thread, so it was great that I could just buy a small amount (70m) to use for this special event. I posted them to Brussels yesterday, and hope they will get to Cathy in the next couple of weeks. I’ll keep an eye on her facebook page, as she has been putting up photos of the squares as they arrive to her.

There has also been a great discussion over at craftree.com as some tatters are trying other square patterns, and adapting them to be the size Cathy has stipulated.There is someone working on a Norma Benporath square to share. This has made for interesting reading and if I had more time I would love to play with an older pattern too.

Are you following along with these projects? Perhaps you are contributing too? Let me know in the comments.

Until next time, happy tatting

Fiona T

Jane’s 2018 TIAS begins

Well it’s that time of year again, Jane Eborral has just launched the 2018 Tat It And See (TIAS).

Here is the link for the Day 1 pattern https://janeeborall.blogspot.com.au/2018/01/day-1.html

And a link to the TIAS blog, so you can follow along as people progress: https://tatitandsee.blogspot.com.au/ 

For those who are new: the TIAS is a pattern which Jane shares in little parts every few days. What we are actually making is a mystery, which leads to a guessing game along side the pattern release.  Jane encourages us to take pictures as we go along and send them into her to share on the TIAS blog. It is a wonderful international event for tatters. You can pick up your shuttles and join in too!

Here is my work so far:

Have you joined in with the TIAS before?

Until next time, happy tatting

Fiona T

Merry Christmas angelinas 2017

Merry Christmas to everyone who follows one mad tatter. Here is a picture of my Christmas tatting this year, some of Alenalea’s angelinas. The pattern is available from her etsy store. 

This year I made seven of these gorgeous ornaments for some very special people in my life. They stand at about 2.5cm high and are made in size 40 thread. 

I hope you have a joyful holiday season, where ever you are in the world. I hope 2018 brings crafting fun for you too. 

Until next time, happy tatting 

Fiona T