TAST and Tatting

Hope you all have had or are having a wonderful Christmas day.  We just finished our dinner and are now stuffed.  I think a nap will be in order, shortly.

In case any of you are not familiar with TAST, it stands for Take A Stitch Tuesday.  A wonderful Aussie lady, Sharon B. is teacher and she will be teaching us a new embroidery stitch each Tuesday starting January 3rd, 2012.  I am looking forward to this challenge.  There are over 400 ladies and some gents participating so it will be interesting to see what everyone does with their stitches. To find out more go here, you might want to join up yourself.

I’ve been trying to figure out how I want to do this and have finally gotten it all figured out in the past couple of days.  I have this photo album never been used, that I got in a load of craft items about a year ago.  It is a 3 ring binder and has pages that have 3 pockets to a side, and I’ll cut fabric to slide in these pockets, and the fabric pieces will be what I do my stitches on, and I’ll have this wonderful album to save them in.  I am excited now that I’ve gotten that figured out.

I put one of my crocheted blooms in a pocket so that you could see what I’m talking about.  I’ll cut the fabric to be about 3” by 4”.

Here’s the fabric I’ll use.  It’s a lighter, creamier color than in the photo. I need to press it before cutting it out to size.  I better work on that so that I won’t be caught 'not ready’.

For Christmas I had ordered tatting needles and I opened them today.  I got 4 for the price of three, plus a threader.  I did my first attempt, and messed up taking the thread off the needle.  I think I let go of the loop of stitches, and ended up getting knots and I couldn’t go any further.  Those of you who tat using needles will know what I am talking about.  DH thought my stitches looked good up until my mess up, so that was encouraging.  I’ve still got to get the hang of making the picot stitches, I think I finally got it at the end.  Practice will make me better at this and I know I’ll get faster and enjoy it more too.  There is a lot for me to learn with this art form.

The tatting needles are the 4 long needles laying on my needle book, and the threader is above, with the instructions to the right.

I am starting with the largest needle, so that I can learn easier, and size 30 crochet thread.

If any of you needle tatting ladies have any tips I would greatly appreciate it.  I have to admit that once I learn, I will be adding bits of my tatting to pieces I plan/hope to sell in my Etsy shop ~ FlowerLady’s Creations. 

I am so excited to learn this new needle art. I tried to teach myself how to use the shuttle for tatting many, many years ago, and just couldn’t grasp it.  I want to thank Susan for tatting these wonderful trees posted on her blog Suztats.  When I commented on her work, she told me that she had done them with tatting needles.  I had never heard of them.  I googled them and found some you tubes on using them, and decided I would like to give it a try.

Well, that’s it for now from Plum Cottage, where my creations happen.  It is partly cloudy, with a bit of breeze, we’ve had a light rain, and it’s 79 and feels like it is 81.  That’s winter in s.e. FL, USA. We don’t always have a chilly Christmas.

Happy Creating whatever medium you create with.

FlowerLady

Crocheted and beaded roses

My latest needlework pieces are a real joy to make. I’ve made the roses before, but not with beads. The beads are like the icing on the cake. There are 90 beads per rose. The roses are two inches across. I look forward to getting a few more colors of thread after the new year.

Thanks for looking and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas season.

FlowerLady

Life and being creative

Here we have another gift of a new day. It is gorgeous here in s.e. FL. The sun is shining, there are clouds drifting by over head and there is a nice breeze with strong gusts now and then, which set the wind chimes to playing their music.

I work again today at my job, and then will have a few days off. I usually work Thurs-Sat.

There are so many ideas running through my head for needleworking, plus I’ve been working on setting up my Etsy shop, which sure takes time and is a little nerve-wracking until I get the hang of it. I’ve gardening to catch up on, laundry to wash, clean laundry to fold and put away, homecaring to do, etc.

I am a new member of Stitchin’ Fingers a place where needle workers can show their stuff, ask questions, see tutorials, learn so much and be inspired by some beautiful creations. Sharon the owner of this group also has a wonderful site called Pin Tangle.

She is hosting and teaching another TAST ~ Take A Stitch Tuesday, starting January 3rd 2012. Each Tuesday she will show us and encourage us in learning another embroidery stitch and I can hardly wait. I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep up with everyone of them, but I sure am going to try. It will be challenging and fun.

Life can keep us busy and hopefully we can find time to be creative, if only for a few minutes a day. No matter what it is, setting a place setting at your table, a bouquet of flowers on your desk, cleaning, needleworking, painting, woodworking, homeschooling, cooking, let us try to do it with joy and thanksgiving adding creative touches along the way.

Have a great weekend ~ FlowerLady

My Etsy shop

Good morning everyone ~ Sandy I couldn’t find myself on Etsy yesterday either.  Then I remembered something I read when I changed my shop’s name.  For 30-45 days, I can’t remember which, I will be connected to my old name for those who knew it from the old name, so they can find me, then it will change to new name.  You can go to my old shop addy and in the left side bar you will see a link to shop FlowerLady’s Creations and get to new shop that way.  Which by the way, has nothing in it yet. 

I’ve got to work on my announcement.  Yesterday I worked on the banner and finally got it up, and am pleased with it.

I don’t know if I’ll open before Christmas, or wait until the new year. I am procrastinating while I work on setting it up and getting my act together.

Thanks for the encouragement, prayers, and for ideas (Cameron).

Also, as to crocheting with the fine nickel wire, which I really enjoy, some people are allergic to nickel, so I will have to put a warning with each piece I create. Has anyone had to deal with this if you have used nickel?

I need to get going for the day. Things to do before Thanksgiving day.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving to all who celebrate this day.  To the rest of you have a wonderful week.

FlowerLady Lorraine

Crocheted wire and bead heart

Here’s my latest creation, done this afternoon.  This is very fine nickel wire, that my DH gave me from his workshop.  I believe it is size 38. 

This piece was a joy to make and should get easier with each one.

I got the idea to do this after a nap and thinking about decorating the small Christmas tree we got at a yard sale for $1. This is not my pattern I found it online. The piece is 2 inches at the widest, and 2 inches high.

Crocheting with wire is harder and different than crocheting with thread or yarn. It makes fingers a little sore and rough and does not come out nice and neat. It’s quirky but I love the lacy look it creates.

DH said this piece was pretty and that it ought to sell too.  That would be nice.

Thanks for looking and I hope it inspires you to create in whatever area you have a love, talent or gift of for creating.  We are all uniquely different.

Have a great week.

FlowerLady

A new beginning

Ok Folks ~ Here I am in a new blog about my creations. It matches the name of my Etsy shop, which has nothing in it at the moment. All in good time.

I won’t post anymore to Plum Cottage Creations but if you want to see back posts there you can go here.

I love working with thread and beads and here you will see my creations as they come about.

Creating makes me happy, whether with threads, needles, hooks and beads, cooking/baking, or working in my gardens or projects around our little compound.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will be inspired to do some creating of your own.

FlowerLady

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Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel.

Author Unknown