The Bell

I really did keep my nose to the grindstone yesterday. I started out with a pair of tatted kitty ears to make for an order, but as they were finished fairly quickly I was right back to the new, larger jellyfish design. I did end up cutting out more than on new row as it wasn't behaving at first, but I still managed to get the bell portion completed.

Since it is much larger than the original ones, I need to make much longer hyperbolic sections for the oral arms. I started with the longest one just so everything after that would seem easier, but after three hours of tatting it, I'm still not done. Of course I'm also doing at least the longest one with three rows rather than the two of the originals, again because of the size difference.

While I did get the supply I was waiting for, it was rather late in the day. I did get to check and see if it would work and I think it will, but it will require additional tatting. I don't want to share until I'm positive it will come together, so you'll likely hear about it later today if you're on the facebook page, or tomorrow if not.

 I do have an order to make first thing today, then it's back to the original jellies to see if I can in fact get them ready to list today. If all that is accomplished it's back to hyperbolic tatting for the rest of the day. This new jelly is going to take quite a bit more time to get together. Hopefully it will be worth it. I suppose if nothing else, it has definitely given me something to distract me for awhile and something new to post about.

Bigger

I really didn't think I'd get round to doing anything new yesterday, but i did. I was fairly determined to finish the mask I was making for an order and I got in done in record time. That's actually pretty surprising because it's been a very long time since I sold a mask and thus a very long time since I've made one. With that all sorted and ready to go int he mail this morning I had some precious free time.

First I was just going to waste it since I'm in a holding pattern with the current jellyfish. The supply I'm waiting for should be here sometime today and if it's early enough I might actually get them listed. It is far more likely that I get my order in late in the day and won't start listing until tomorrow. Of course that all depends on if I can bring myself to actually put a price on them. I got scads of price advice on the Facebook page, but I still feel add about such a large price point.

I think I got off track there. I was going to stall, but instead I started working out a new, even larger jellyfish pattern. I started working with the vintage ecru thread to start with though. I think I have enough prototype information to go ahead with a final piece even though I am still working out the pattern as I go. After this picture I managed another row, but it is still far from complete. The larger the bell, the longer each additional row is and it's at a good 6 or 7 inches across already. It's curving nicely though so I have high hope that if my order comes late in the day I'll get at least the bell made.

Before that though I did get a small order in yesterday that I will need to get taken care of as well. So today it's order, jellyfish, then secret supply. Hopefully everything goes according to plan, but I'm not holding my breath.

Out of Town

I'm afraid I've really nothing to share this morning. We were out of town to the Bay Area most of the day for a doctor's appointment. Though we really spent more time at the mall there and even more time than that in the car of course. I was going to take some tatting with me, but at the last minute, when I couldn't find the piece I needed to remake, I changed my mind.

When we got back I did have a few quiet hours to get in some tatting, but since I needed to work on a few orders, it's nothing really worth sharing. I did remake this necklace and I haven't posted it since I made it the first time around, so I thought a picture might liven up the post.

I still have a mask I need to make, so that's the task for today. The jellyfish are on standby until I receive a supply in the mail tomorrow. Then I'll need to try out said supply and whether it works or not hopefully Friday will see them enter my etsy shop. I still have a few idea for future jellyfish pieces as well, so when the shop inevitably goes quiet again, I'll get back to work on those.

More Jellyfish

My, was I busy over the weekend. I was very determined to create some more tatted jellyfish. I managed, by working all day Friday and some of Thursday come to think of it, to finish the one in camel, spice cake and vintage ecru. There always a bit of a challenge using different brands of thread, but I think it added something to the piece.

I asked about pricing on my Facebook page and boy did I get a lot of opinions. Most of them were was higher than I assumed people would suggest. I guess I thought at least a few people would low ball the price because they wanted to own one, but I'm guessing they just kept silent instead. I'm still not set on a price yet and there is one more addition to the piece I'll be trying out later this week. I'm hopeful that I'll get these in the shop by the end of the week though.

Yes, I did say these. I spent the rest of the weekend work on a blue version as well. Of course the colors aren't particularly accurate in this photo because I took it with my phone and my phone hates teal and turquoise. The top of this is dark ocean teal and the other two are hand dyed, the lower bell is turquoise and the center is a light greenish turquoise. I mean, the picture is close, but not quite there and I added a filter to it to get it a bit closer to correct.

I'm off most of today, out of town with the family, so I likely won't get anything of interest done. I was also quite fortunate to get a couple of orders over the weekend, so any time I do get belongs to getting those taken care of. I guess that means a couple of days of boring blog posts, but at least I got to start the week with two pieces to share.

Thank You!

Wow, I shared the Sea Nettle Jellyfish around in the morning and it kept on getting love all day long. It received dozens of comments on facebook and it broke 150 likes. In fact it even got reblogged on Tumblr several times and I never get more than one or two there, so I'm really quite pleased with the reaction. I just wanted to say Thank You for all the nice things everyone has said, wherever you said it!

I didn't sit on my laurels, even though I was babysitting two of my nieces all day. I went straight to work on one that might be sell-able. With all the design work done I was able to work fairly quickly, but that hyperbolic tatting will not be rushed. Not to mention that the bell section needs to be stiffened before I add the tentacles and hyperbolic oral arms and that means it need to sit overnight. So I guess even rushed the jellyfish needs at least 2 days to complete.

This is the bell of the one I'm working on. I decided to try and more closely match the colors of some real Sea Nettles. The top is a camel and the bottom is Lizbeth Spiced Cake. The tentacles will be done with the variegated thread as well and the oral arms on the real animal are lighter so I'm using the same vintage ecru I used on the last one for them.

I should get this one finished today and then the plan is to try and come up with a reasonable price for it, any opinions would be helpful for that as it's my first piece of hanging art, then I'm going to go back and make another in all ecru also for the shop. Obviously it's going to take a few days before I get another done, but I hope after all the attention the ecru one got that someone does actually want to own one. I did think about sharing a tutorial for this and I still might sometime in the future, but for know, it has so many fiddly techniques that I imagine are harder to explain than I am up for right now. If I figure out how to explain in an understandable way, I'll revisit the idea. For now, it's back to work.

Done!

I finished the prototype! Yes, it will remain a prototype mostly because I failed to see that the brush I used to apply the stiffening agent had something purple on it that was transferred to the lace. Of course from a distance it looks fine, so I suppose it's more that this one is mine than it's a box destined prototype.

I'm really proud of this one which is why you get the big picture, well that and I'm fairly certain that no one is counting stitches from it. Hopefully I don't have to tell you that it is a jelly fish, because if you can't tell then I really did fail miserably. It is, in particular, a Sea Nettle Jelly Fish. I have a picture of one taken a few years back at the Monterey Bay Aquarium as my phone's unlock screen. After this year's trip I suppose the combination of ocean inspiration and slow sales inspired me to create something different and decidedly unwearable.

I know it's hard to tell scale here, but it's about a foot long I think.(I'll have to go measure it later and update that with the proper length.) The center, or oral arms, are the hyperbolic tatting I've been experimenting with. The outside, or bell, the motif I've been working on. The tentacles, also know as lappets are crochet chains with tatted rings. Please, please tell me what you think of it!

I don't know yet whether a final version of this will end up in the shop. It is certainly a time consuming piece, so the cost would be rather high I imagine. Whether it does or not, I will certainly make more. I want to play with colors at the very least. The oldest child wants one in black already. So my free time, for a while at least, will be given over to the sea.

Almost There

I made very good progress with my project yesterday, but after an unfortunate minor slip up, it is clear that this one will live on as a prototype as well. I will finish it all the way though and once I do, I can show you what it is I've been trying to make, if you haven't already figured it out. I'm still not positive that it will turn out as I planned, but it's looking like it will at least be close.

I made quite a few small stitch count changes in an attempt to get it to the right shape. The only problem in the last version was an irregular size change from one row to the next. Of course once I changed something at the base I had to change something in each subsequent row as well.  I still wouldn't call it the perfect shape, but it certainly works.

I am stiffening this section of the piece, though it does hold it's shape quite nicely as is. I have several other bits to work on to complete it, but I think I should get it done today, or at least close to it. If turns out at least a little like I want it to, then you'll get to see it, otherwise I might pretend I never tried it in the first place.

Wasted Day

Isn't it crazy how one appointment in the afternoon can completely take over the day. Of course I sabotaged the morning as well by taking time to dye my hair which I never do on a week day. That alone pushed back my morning and then I was drafted to fix a mandala for my mother. Her cat had pulled out a couple of the hanging wool bits which I image have a much nicer name that I don't know. I'm not certain why my mother thought that I could fix it, I've never made one before. After assessing the damage, I realized that I could just remove the damaged ones and shift the existing ones about and it looked good as new without me trying to poorly copy a technique I have no knowledge of at all. So I guess in the end I did fix it, but in the laziest way possible.

I did have a bit of time to get back to the prototype for my art idea after that. I played with it for quite some time before deciding that the design and shape were right. Then I pulled out some vintage ecru thread for what will either be the final prototype or the final piece. I'll know which when I'm finished with it. I've already made a few stitch count changes to see if it lays just a bit better. There wasn't anything huge wrong with the first go in that regard, but that doesn't mean that I can't try and make it even better, right?

I didn't get very far before our family dental appointments sucked the rest of the day away. I should have time to work on the piece today because I don't think I have other plans at all. Though again I shall hope for some distractions during the day. Either way I should at least have something to show you tomorrow, even if you have no idea what it is.

Art

I didn't manage a whole lot of tatting over the weekend, but Friday I did get a few things for my idea project sussed out. First off I tried out a new pattern for the hyperbolic tatting. As much as I think the standard chain only method works perfectly, I think it lacks a bit of character. Plus for my clearly secret idea, it should be slightly less perfect. So this one has more depth in the design and when you pull on the starting chain it comes out of the perfect spiral and into a bit of a crazy frill which works for my idea well.

The next part of the project started with this new motif I designed. There are now several more rounds to this, but no pictures because I was a fairly lazy tatter over the weekend, only engaging in the activity while watching something or other on television. It is coming along nicely and soon it will be time to put away the brown thread I've been using to prototype and get to work on the final piece. Though I think I might also use this center motif for a pendant or something too because, well, I really like the way it turned out.

I woke up with a pretty persistent headache this morning and we also have our family dental appointments today so I don't know how much motivation I'll be able to scrape up to work on the project, but hopefully I again get distracted from it by sales. Partly because I'm pretty sure my art project here isn't going to net me a dime and partly because I think the distraction actually helps focus me a bit. I'm still going to make it of course. I need to get the idea out of my head and into thread.

Longer

I spent the day almost solely working on my last order, a pair of barefoot sandals. There are so many little bits in them that are made separate and then tatted together in the last round that they are usually an all day, if not two day, project.

I was determined to try out at least one idea for the hyperbolic experiment, so I made time in the late afternoon for that. It's the length problem I most wanted to solve. First I thought a base row of split rings would work. They would work of course, but split rings with the needle are quite annoying and I was trying to avoid annoying. Instead I opted for a crochet chain as a base. I wasn't certain I'd get the right spiral with it, but in the first experiment it is long and it curled perfectly even on the first row.

I didn't get past the second row because the concept was proved and there was no need to continue. The next bit to tackle is the pattern itself. So far the best, or most reliable look comes from this simple lock chain technique, but I want something with a bit more intricacy so today I'm going to play with patterns on the crochet base. I think just short pieces though so I can really try a few things out without going mad. This one here seems like it took forever.

Once I get these bits sussed I'll be off working on the next design challenge for my idea. Don't worry it's not some huge groundbreaking thing, it's just something to try and since I have time, I'm trying. Here's hoping I continue to be distracted by many sales and custom tatting.

I Love Busy

I stayed pretty focused on getting my most recent order made as well as remaking the pieces that were sold in it much of the day. This piece was a custom color change. The original necklace was made in brown and brass, but the customer requested black. I'm kind of surprised that I had not done it in black before. Of course I would have likely used silver hardware instead of brass, but I think it looks nice like this as well.

I had very little time left over to play with the hyperbolic idea. In fact I didn't even get to try out the one thing I really wanted to. I should get round to that today. What I did work on was altering the pattern to see if I could still maintain the effect. This one seems to have worked, but not as well as I would have liked so it's back to the drawing board on that front as well. If you want to try out this technique for yourselves and haven't run across it yet, here's a link to the pdf by Patty Dowden. I mentioned yesterday. It explains all the basics plus specifics for a few different types of pieces you can make with it. I didn't read it in depth because I just wanted a starting point, but it looked pretty thorough.

I managed to get another overnight order that will need to be taken care of today before I can get back to the hyperbolic experiments. I've been busier than I have in what seems like months since I got back from the coast, I've been exercising more, and the weather has cooled just a bit, so I suppose I'm having a pretty good week. Here's to all this continuing for a long, long time.

Hyperbolic

I had an idea yesterday and that idea required me to try out concept of hyperbolic tatting. I'd seen it around before of course and I had done my fair share of ruffled tatting even before that, but I wanted the classic spiral. This sent me to the same place I imagine this search sends everyone, a math heavy tutorial by Patty Dowden. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad someone did the math, but I prefer to feel the pattern rather than math it out in advance. So after a cursory look though the tutorial I gave it a go myself.

It turned out exactly as I needed it to except that my idea will require a very long version of it and I'm not entirely certain the best way to proceed. This piece starts with a base chain and we all know that usually a needle tatted element isn't longer than the needle itself, if you want it to look smooth anyway. So further experimenting will commence today. I already tried out a more complex pattern including rings, but I think I miscalculated so there will be further experimentation in that regard as well. The ideal pattern awaits in the ether.

In a stroke of luck I got in another order in the afternoon that will require me to make a couple of things, so I set aside the experiment and got to work on that. I have a bit more of that to finish up today and then it's back to the hyperbolic ideas. It's definitely a time consuming technique, but it does make the striking spiral I'm looking for, so I'm going to keep at it until my idea either works or crashes and burns.

A Rut

Man, was it hot yesterday. Of course I only left the house a few times, but it was enough to categorize the day as unbearable. I spent the rest of my time inside tatting. I let the kids have the downstairs television for their video games and spent most of my time upstairs with DVR shows and thread. In fact I managed to finish all the pieces I needed to for the orders in queue and I should get them both out in the post early today. That does still leave me a couple of pieces I can remake for the shop, but after that I really am going to have to engage my creative muscles.

I've been feeling a bit like I've already created so very many pieces and I'm not certain I have any good ideas left. I know that it's just a rut and something is bound to snap me out of it eventually, but that doesn't fix it right now. Right now, I feel like I've run out of juice. I mean the last thing I created was that silly man looking motif and I'm not exactly proud of that. I've been, maybe not so patiently, waiting for a muse to strike and so far, nothing. This also have the side effect of making for really boring blog posts, so sorry about that.

So here's to a slightly cooler day, a muse on the way and whatever else would make for a good, creative, successful day.

I'm Back

I'm back and thoroughly exhausted. Also, I'm hot and I really do miss the weather at the coast which is currently 30º cooler than it is here. There's no use dwelling on it though, we all love the places we got to vacation or it wouldn't be worth all the effort. All the packing, unpacking, and laundry, not to mention all crazy the kids throw at us once they're home and instantly bored.Yes, it is a joy, but it's worth it.

I didn't put my shop in vacation mode, but I might as well have. There were no sales in it the entire time we were gone. On one hand that's great because I didn't have to get straight to work upon returning, on the other hand I do like getting back to routine. Luckily while we spent a last lazy Sunday yesterday a couple of orders came in. One gave me something to remake yesterday and will be in the mail this morning. The other has a custom sized piece in it, so that is today's task. Custom sizing slave bracelets can be tricky business. They usually require small adjustments to stitch counts rather than the addition of repeats like a regular bracelet would. This means I'll likely stare at it for quite some time before I work out what needs to be done. That's probably a good thing too, my brain has been on vacation as well and a solid problem to solve should shake it back into service.

I've got no tatting to show you, there wasn't even any at the Antique mall, so I shall leave you will a few more pictures from our trip.

 

Monterey

We spent yesterday in our usual Monterey spots and after accidentally running into my brother, we headed to Point Lobos for the first time. It was lovely, I'm sunburnt and we still have another day or so in the cool weather to enjoy. I hope your weekend is as lovely as ours promises to be.

Monopoly

I don't have a lot of time to blather on this morning and honestly yesterday didn't have many things to
share about. We adventured, went out to lunch and killed the afternoon with a game of Monopoly.

Today we're off to the coast and I still haven't decided whether I'm bringing my tatting or not. I'm not currently working on any projects so I may just leave it. Oh, who am I kidding, I may not use it but I'll bring it.

Have a wonderful weekend. I'll likely pop by tomorrow with a photo or two. but that will probably be it. I'll leave you with a picture of one of the older cats enduring that game of Monopoly. The village only got bigger after this.

Read While Tatting

It was a nice, fairly productive day despite the overcast day with oppressive heat. I had pieces that needed making and I tried to focus on making them. The only problem is that the kids have gotten a little Nintendo happy which means I've lost my background television. Sure I can watch them play video games, but it's just not the same. So for background entertainment I read while tatting.

I know that seems a bit odd and it would have been quite difficult with a physical book, but I was reading on my phone and that only needs me to free a pinkie when I need to turn a page. I managed to not only tat all but one piece that needed remaking, but I also finished the book. I went with a classic this time, The Picture of Dorian Gray. I knew the story of course, but I had never actually read the novel. It took me much of the day, but I finished it and I felt much better throughout the day. I really do just need to pack my day with tasks if I'm hiding inside or I just feel like I've wasted my day.

This morning I just need to do the finishing work on the order I got the other night, then it's in the post. We're heading over to the coast tomorrow for our annual family anniversary trip. I should be quite glad of the dramatic temperature change and scenery change. That means fish picture for you when I return.

Fail

I spent most of yesterday morning cleaning and avoiding tatting anything new. I know, that sounds all backwards doesn't it? I didn't want to tat because I had no new ideas, no orders, and I was doing that thing where I wonder why I bother making anything if nothing is selling. I know I do it all the time, but I'm going to go ahead and blame the overcast, yet really hot day.

Eventually I sat down and scrolled through vintage jewelry designs, not tatting, on Pinterest looking for inspiration. I ran across some really neat Art Deco pieces and thought maybe I could replicate one of them. I started with a small heart I had already designed and then tried to mimic a row of pearls with split rings. The result, as you see, is a little...I'm going to go with, off.

I posted it online with the description of it being a complete fail. I still maintain that it is despite an avalanche of comments suggesting many different small changes to make it work. Sure the heart at the top is fine, but I already have that in the shop. I think it looks like a man with an enormous head. Some of the suggestions were that I flip it over, or double it. While I might get back to it one day, it's in the reject heap for now, evidence that not everything that comes off my needle, works.

I was so lucky to wake up to a nice sizable order this morning. Once I get the custom piece in the order made, then I can remake all the other pieces which will give me plenty of work to do today and maybe even tomorrow without having to call on my clearly deficient creativity. This is definitely a good thing.

Wasting Time

I'm afraid I don't have much for you this morning. This past weekend was a particularly lazy one. Sure there was the customary lighting of things on fire Friday night, but after that there was a whole lot of sitting lazily about, avoiding the heat and not spending money. That's one of our newest pastimes, not spending money. We're not as good at it as we need to be, but we're trying it out.

In fact on Saturday not only did we catch up on dvr recorded shows, but I also read a novel. A whole novel. That was even between the TV watching and some video game playing. Sunday we managed a little errand running, a walk,  and then we gave the day to a game of Monopoly with the kids. We didn't even play the game all the way to the end, just to when the husband was bankrupted and it still sucked much of the day away.

So what about this week? Well, I did sell two very small pieces yesterday, so I'll remake those this morning. Then the house could really use a cleaning. The heat has definitely made me even more listless than usual so I've been avoiding it. I'm still crossing my fingers for some sort of project, inspiration or good news to head my way. Until then it seems it's video games, reading, cleaning, and wasting time.

4th

I suppose I should start off this morning with a Happy Independence Day to all my fellow Americans and a super happy Friday to everyone else. Fun fact my children won't let me forget that I taught them, the Declaration of Independence was actually ratified 2 days earlier on the 2nd, but not formally announce until the 4th, so technically we've been celebrating that announcement for over two hundred years instead of the actual date of the declaration.

That's enough of that though. I didn't get much of anything done yesterday except for getting the order I was working on in the mail. I basically sat about most of the day hoping for either a sale or inspiration and when neither came, I played Mario Kart. I don't have high hopes for today either. It's a holiday so the husband is off work and that means there will likely be more adventuring and less sit around and tat time. Maybe I'll get up to something over the weekend so I have something to share on Monday. Yeah, let's just hope for that then. In the meantime have a great weekend.

All Listed

Yesterday didn't feel quite as productive as the previous day, but I did accomplish all I had set out to do in the morning. All the new pieces are now in the shop, the necklace, the single bracelet, and the bridal pair. I had a couple of folks over on Facebook that seem to express an interest in them, but no matter how many times I posted there that they were available in the shop, it seems they didn't notice or Facebook chose not to show them the posts. Either that or they did and they found them priced too high or something. I guess I was just really hoping that something from this collection would sell quickly.

After those were all listed I went on to work on the order I had in queue. All the pieces are small ones, but I had a devil of a time finding my prototype for one of them and there was some thread hiding from me as well. I swear I was looking for things for a good hour before I finally located everything. It's time like that that I wish I was better organized or that I actually did write down all my patterns. Of course I won't change anything, that's just silly talk.

All I have left to do today is the finishing work on the order and then I'll have it out in the post to its new owner. After that I'll have to either hold my breath for an order to work on or think of something new to make myself. I might try turning the recent design into barefoot sandals, but that's about all I've got left in this one. Who know, maybe I will get a good sale today and I won't have to worry about it. What? It could happen.

The Slave Bracelet Becomes

I was fairly determined to do a few things yesterday. I wanted to make sure we got back into a nice routine that included yoga in the morning. I wanted to avoid the blistering heat that is upon us here by staying inside all day and I wanted to finally figure out the slave bracelet pattern. I know my bar is set pretty low, but I managed all three and I have to say, that feels pretty good.

I found a small adjustment to the pattern that allows for greater customization in sizing and got one slave bracelet made up in my standard black. Usually I'm not completely enamored with my own work, but I really loved the way this turned out. It has sort of a mitt appearance and from a distance it looks a bit like Venice lace. While I'm not overly found of machine made lace, personal bias I suppose, I do like the look of some of it. Anyway, I immediately thought it would be nice in a pair as bridal jewelry.

I buckled down and worked non-stop the rest of the afternoon. In a shocking display of productivity I got a pair done in time to share it, but not get any of these things listed in the shop. I also did not get the new necklace listed either though further feedback from several sources confirmed that the crystal is staying.

Right before bed I received an order with several small pieces in custom colors that will need to be made, so the day was a high note all the way through. Today I'll try to get all these new pieces listed, as well as get that order made up. I do so adore starting the day with projects and purpose. Here's to another productive one ahead.

New Necklace

I had a surprisingly productive day given that for the first half of it I was babysitting two of my nieces. It's not that they're bad, but when my kids are added to any number of cousins the volume and chaos seem to multiply by a power of at least 10. I worked on laundry and cleaning early and then had the time to get those earrings listed. After that I went back to the larger motif and the necklace that was trying to become real.

It took me quite some time to settle on a way to finish the sides. Honestly I'm not even sure how I landed on split rings. They are not my favorite technique, but it somehow looked right for the piece. Once I had that worked out I stalled for a bit and wasted some time on Code Academy. I've been using the site for a few weeks now I guess, to learn coding for no real reason other than it's there, it's free and it's been pretty easy to use. It is now my go-to stalling activity. Who knows, maybe I'll actually get competent at it eventually.

When I had stalled long enough, it was back to the necklace. It was suggested that it needed something hanging from the center and I thought I'd try it out, so I dug through my supplies and came up with this. The majority of people who saw it seem to like it, but it was suggested that a drop shape would be better suited. While that might be true, here's the problem, I don't have any suitable drops on hand and my sales have been so slow that I cannot buy new supplies at all. I am basically at the point where I can only use what I already have. It's frustrating, but them's the breaks.

I'm not sure if I'm going to list the necklace today or wait for more opinions on it. Of course at this point it's either with or without the crystal, so I might just go ahead as is and hope someone loves it enough to buy it. The next piece on my list is the slave bracelet idea. I'm having some issues working out the best way to close it. The most obvious method fits me perfectly, but I have tiny wrists, so I might have to make some adjustments so it can have a more average fit. Of course I could just get frustrated and go with it being only available in a small size. Only time will tell.At least I have a project for the day.