It is always nice to get surprise packages in the mail but when they focus on tatting it just makes them that much more special. It is always nice when a fellow tatter shares some of there hard work with you but they get the pleasure of knowing that it will be truly appreciated. Laura surprised me with this beautiful butterfly in wonderful colours and a snowflake with beads. Laura you do very nice tatting and thank you very much for the surprise.

Sunlight

This is the start of a doily from a pattern from the book The Tatter's Treasure Chest by Carolyn Waldrep. I decided to use a pattern because the thread that I am using is Marilee's (Yarnplayer) tourmaline, size 50 and I think it is the nicest HDT that she makes. I just love the colours so I wanted to make something that I knew I was going to like the look of and not waste the thread. Thanks Marilee for once again creating a HDT that is almost to nice to be real.

SUNLITE

This is number 2 in the series of doilies that I am designing. I am happy with how it turned out except the outer rings are woven picots and they do not work to well with the fine thread. I think the woven picots will turn out nicer with a thicker thread. The doily is 6 inches across and is made of Marilee's (Yarnplayer) Tiger Eye Hand Dyed Thread size 80 and I used about 35 yards of thread.

Waves,
I was playing around with the pattern for the waves doily and came up with some numbers that may be of interest to a few people. This doily was made from size 80 thread and measures 8 inches across. It consists of the following elements 280 joins, 2,104 matching picots and finally 10,040 double stitches. No wonder these things take so long to make.

WAVES,

Well it is now finished and has a name. It has taken a while but I am happy with the result and it is the first finished pattern of many that I am working on. It feels good to finally get one down on paper and tatted and believe it or not the second one is already on the way it seems the creative juices are flowing so I will work on patterns till I tire of them and then go about tatting them in different size thread to see how they work out. It is exciting to know that you designed it yourself and it turned out okay.

Hand Dyed Threads

This doily may not be the prettiest but I have to keep in mind that it is a work in progress and I am happy with how it is turning out and it is teaching me lots that I will use when doing my other designs. The thread is Tiger Eye from Marilee (YarnPlayer) and is size 80 and to give you an idea of how much you use when tatting this doily is 10 rows or about 6 inches across and I used two 50 yard skeins and had about 2 yards left over. For those of you who have purchased HDT and are afraid to use it I would strongly encourage you to use it and not wait for the perfect pattern as I am not sure there is one. Besides then you have an excuse to buy more. To those of you who have not tried HDT you are in for a treat if you give them a try. They are stronger, more colourful and a real joy to work with. If you give them a try I am sure you will love them and find them a source of inspiration.

This is my third go at this doily which I am designing. It still needs a little fine tuning but it is almost there. The one thing about designing with size 80 thread is it takes a lot of tatting to amount to anything. The thread I am using is Tiger Eye from Marilee ( YarnPlayer ) and I just love the way the colours blend in together.

No pictures this time but I just have to let you know that I am busy tatting. I am working on designing a doily and so far it is going well but I have been so busy lately I just don't get as much time as I would like to tat. It is also taking a long time to get this doily to a decent size as I am making it in size 80 thread. I like this size of thread as it looks so delicate and lacy but my patterns are going to be in size 20 and size 80.

I made this bookmark called Filigree from Christmas Angels and Other Tatting Patterns by Monica Hahn for my daughter Shannon who is away at university so she can keep track of where she is reading and be reminded each day that her Dad loves her. It is made from Oren Bayan Perle 12 in colours 864 and 865 with a burgundy eyelet ribbon woven through the middle. I think it will make a nice surprise for her when she receives it in the mail.

Well the decision has been made. I decided that if I continued on with this doily it would get to big for it's intended purpose and after looking over the rest of the pattern I was not crazy on how it ended so here it is. This is the new home for the rather large piece of green calcite that we have. I am really happy with the way the two shades of green in the doily blend in with the many shades of green in the green calcite.

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Well it seems like it has taken forever but I have finally finished row #10 of this doily. It is big enough now for the crystal that is going to sit on it so I have to decide if I want to add the last 7 rows. Right now the doily is about 14 inches across if I add the remaining rows I think it will end up being about 24 inches across. If nothing else I am real happy with the way this is turning out.

H.D.T.A.

Well she has done and done it again. Marilee better known as Yarnplayer has come up with a new Hand Dyed Thread called Tourmaline which I personally think could be the best colour combination she has dyed to date. I can see the threadhttp://yarnplayertats.blogspot.com/ made into a lot of different tatted items but if you want some I would suggest you order it as soon as possible because I think this thread will sell out very fast. I know I have ordered mine already. By the way for those wondering what H.D.T.A. stands for it means Hand Dyed Thread Addicts.

I was asked by a fellow tatter for a few reasons I much prefer hand dyed thread the following where some of the reasons that rolled of the top of my head and I thought I would share them.
1. The dyeing process seems to make the thread stronger yet it does not lose its softness.
2.The colours available for any tatted project are only as limited as the number of people who are hand dyeing thread.
3. The variations of the base colour bring a special and unique quality to the item you are tatting.
4. I see the world in many shades of colours as I see auras when I am getting my daily migraines so to see something made of one shade of colour just does not seem right to me.
5. I love the new dimension it adds to the older art of tatting.
6.I love the colour because when I show people my tatted items made with hand dyed threads they are always amazed and happy for at least a short period of time and we all could use a bit more of that.
There are other reasons but they do not come to mind right now but I hope this gives you some insight into my passion or what some call addiction of hand dyed threads.

Well there has been no progress on the doily this week.Not that I have not worked on it but I just could not make heads nor tails out of the pattern for row 10. I think I started it about 10 times and even got as far as 5 inches and then realized it was not right so I would cut it off. Last night I finally got it figured out. Sometimes it is a bugger being a perfectionist.

Well I am a true believer that for tatting there is no thread like hand dyed thread. Some would call my love of hand dyed thread an addiction but the way I like to look at it is, if I am going to spend all that time tatting something I want it to be unique, colourful and something to be cherished for years to come. I am not saying that you cannot do that with plain thread but with hand dyed thread it comes alive. As a special gift to myself I pooled my Christmas money and ordered 12 skeins of hand died thread from Marilee also known as Yarnplayer. If you have not tried her hand dyed thread yet you must treat yourself to at least 1 skein just to experience the pleasure of the way the colours blend to add extra dimension to your tatting. You will not be disappointed, but beware this thread has been known to become addictive. A link to Yarnplayer is listed under my links for handy reference.

The doily is coming along very nicely and I have just finished the ninth row. It is now to big to scan. Only 8 more to go if it ends up full size. Each row takes more tatting and more time but it is going to be worth it as this is going to be one beautiful doily when done.

Well I have been tagged again this time by http://tattyhead.blogspot.com/ so here we go. Here's the rules:1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.3. Tag 3 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs. Here are my seven facts
1. I am addicted to hand dyed threads
2. Tatting is not an addiction it is a way of life
3. I do rug hooking, needle point, Japanese silk embroidery, sewing, knitting, macrame, cross stitch, painting, wood carving, and numerous other crafts.
4. I have 2 children a daughter who is 18 and a son who is 16.
5. I like to play darts
6. My partner and I hope to retire to Hawaii in 7 years.
7. My kids think I should be world famous for the way I cook my roast beef.
I think everyone I know has been tagged at least once so I tag no one.

Well the doily continues to grow. I did not get a lot of time to tat over Christmas but I am now on row 8 of 17 and I must say that I am falling in love with this doily. I think that even if the finished size is going to be to big for where I was planning on using it I am going to do the 17 rows. I am also starting to think about the possibility of designing and publishing a book of tatted doily patterns as I am finding that the ones that are for sale are not ideal as patterns for all levels of tatters and are afraid to show what it would be like to tat doilies in colourful hand dyed threads.

I changed the way I decorated my tree this year. In all the other years I would have it absolutely covered in a wide variety of decorations. This year because of many health problems it has been a real challenge to even put up the tree so I decided to make less work for myself and keep it simple. The only decorations on the tree this year are my tatted ones and then some candy canes for the teenagers to make disappear. I miss all the other decorations but I just don't have the energy to do any more so I will have to be content with the way it is.

On a happier note I would like to send out a Christmas greeting to all my tatting friends it has been a fun year getting to know new people and share my tatting adventures.

To all my fellow Tatters I wish you the best wishes of the season and wish you the gifts that you need as well as a few you would like. I wish you and your families good health and happiness now and in the coming year. And lastly I wish you the blessings that come with giving, may they warm your heart and make you realize just how special you are.

Clyde

Here is a sneak peek at the new doily I am working on. It is done in two shades of green and the finished size is 17 rows so it is going to be a big one. I don't know if I need it that big for its new home but we will see

Many thanks to Nancy Tracy who designed this doily called Mom's Pink Doily. Directions can be found at http://www.be-stitched.com If you like doily's I would highly recommend this one as the directions are very clear and easy to follow and the finished product is a pretty doily with lots of picots. This one is made with Altin Basak size 50 thread, colour #356. It took me longer than usual to make it as I have been watching the BBC special Planet Earth. What an amazing set of shows if you have e not seen it yet I would highly recommend it as it provides you with once in a lifetime views of different aspects of earth and will truly make you marvel at the wonders of nature.

Well it is snowing inside and out. These are the last of my snowflakes for this season and I am doing my least favorite thing, blocking. If i wasn't such a perfectionist I probably would not bother, but to me it is worth it. This is also my first posting on Blogger and I have decided to start a blog here as well as the one I have on Yahoo as this one is able to do more. I think in the future I will probably end up shutting down Yahoo but for now I will keep both of them running.