The Word is .. Beautiful

I am going to try and avoid using the word beautiful when commenting on beautiful (ooops ... ) tatting that I see on other blogs. But my vocabulary is so limited in this area, and I kept going back to these same words -
beautiful, pretty, nice, lovely.

Well, I have enough of it! Yes, I do.
I looked up the word 'beautiful' in the thesaurus and I found this.

Some interesting words there ..... hmm

Exquisite would nicely describe fine tatting.
I don't know what kind of tatting would be alluring, ravishing or sexy.
Magnificent would be for tatting that is beyond my own tatting skill.
Irresistible is something that I have to try and tat myself.
Some of the tatting collages that I have seen earn the word picturesque.

And, what do you think of this one, pulchritudinous? I don't even know how to pronounce it. LOL

The charming bookmark was given to me by Felicia when I met up with her in Bandung a few months back.

Ha ha ha ... by now you'd have guessed that I don't have much to do at the moment. I just came back from the post office to mail off the books to the winners of my Celebration giveaways and a couple of book orders for the Tatted Snowflakes Collection.

Ok now, off to snap a few more pictures.

Colours of My Rainbow

Your rainbow is strongly shaded brown and green.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is says about you: You are a deep thinking person. You feel strong ties to nature and your mood changes with its cycles. You feel closer to people when you understand their imperfections. Those around you admire your fresh outlook and vitality.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

Hmmm ... the colours are not showing up. Now, what didn't I do right ....

Oh OK, I see it now. I hope you can too. I should have published in html format.

Giveaway Drawing Winners

I have received a total of 92 valid comments for the giveaway. I deleted a few because they are submitted more than once and I only take into account one comment per person for the drawing.

Thank you to all who have participated. The number was more than what I had expected it was going to be.

The winners for the drawings have been picked.

Congratulations
to

Diane - the Lace-Loving Librarian

Ellen of Singtatter's Corner

and

Josie Passell

Congratulations again to the three of you.
Please give me a few days to prepare the book for mailing.
I hope you are going to enjoy it.

Doily - I Cleared the Round

While waiting for my giveaway to close, (which will be in a few hours at the time of writing this) I worked on my green and pink doily.

Oh ... thank you so much to all of you who have registered for the giveaway. I did not expect the number that did. You are all great folks.

I finally cleared the round where I need to work with leaving bare thread connecting the rings. I managed to get the correct amount of the thread after a few tries. The pattern mentioned to leave about 3mm but I left it longer than that, about 5mm I think. This is where I am at the moment.


I have started on the next round which is again made up of small round motifs. I did a bit of calculation to decide on how to use the two colours for this round and where to make the joins so that they fit in with the earlier small motifs. The only way I can think of is to make two motifs in green followed by one in pink.

As you can see from the grid lines on the cutting mat, the size is already 27cm in diemeter and I still have three rounds to go. This is going to take a while to finish.

Time to Celebrate

This giveaway is now CLOSED.

It's August again and it is time for a celebration.

My blog anniversary is on 26th August. This year I will have completed three years of writing about tatting and a few other things in between. I started this blog to participate in the 25-motif challenge that was started by Sharon Briggs. A lot of interesting things have happened since then. I completed my 25-motif challenge and made a lot of new friends in the process. My passion for tatting grew with the number of posts in this blog. And the comments that I received with each entries are very much appreciated.





It's my birthday - again - which also fall in the month of August. I am looking forward to another fulfiling year of blogging about tatting and also wish that I will have some time to try a variety of other crafts as well. I have also opened my shop in Etsy and hope to make that grow in the coming year.

You may have read vague hints in my responses to comments in my blog about this project. Well, now I am ready to announce it. What better way to do it if not in this month of August. Yes, I have finished with my second book. Here is a peek at its content.

To celebrate these three joyous occasions, I am giving away three signed copies of my new book, one each to three lucky people who leave comment for this post.

You need only to comment once. There is no need to blog about this in you blogs. If you do I appreciate it very much, but it will not increase your number of entries for the drawings.

You must have a valid blog and that your profile can be viewed so that I can contact you if you are one of the winners. If you do not have a blog, please leave a valid e-mail address with your comment.

The last day to leave comments is 2oth August, 2009, and the winners will be announced soon after that.

Arches with Altin Basak

I have finished the Arches doily using the Altin Basak thread that Ulla sent me, which I wrote about in the previous post. The pattern is by Marilee, the Yarnplayer.


The thread that I used for this are #3053 for the rings and #308 for the chains. 3-ply thread is not my first choice for tatting thread but I think I am going to like working with Altin Basak.

I was looking through my stash of tatting threads recently and realised something that I should have done from a very long time ago. And that is, to keep a record of the different type and shades of thread that I have used. Finally came up with this sample card system.


I tatted a small motif with each thread that I have. In this case, it is a small rings only flower with R(5-2-2-2-2-5). Each flower is pasted onto an index card with a brief note about the type, thickness and colour written beside it. For comparison, I also showed the width of the finished flower under it.

Each piece of card has space for three records which I file in a small D-ring file that was originally meant for keeping CDs in their plastic pockets. I have only made nine sample flowers from the many thread that I have. I must remember to add to it each time I start with a new thread.

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.