Spring?

I wasn't quite as busy yesterday, but I still had tatting to do. The order I had gotten overnight was for a pair of earrings and a necklace. Unfortunately one of the earrings had gone astray, so I had to start the day by making not only replacements for the ordered piece, but the other earring first before I could send out the order. It was also the first International order I've gotten since postage costs went through the roof for them. I know when you think about it, you're asking USPS to take a package from your house and deliver it across an ocean and to another house thousands of miles away and that given that, the cost makes sense. It's just a significant increase and I'm pretty certain that it will keep many folks outside of the U.S. from ordering anything they don't really need.

I think I have just one more small piece to remake for the shop and then I'm caught up again, for now. I also still need to buckle down and finish the TIAS so I can send a photo of my finished piece to Jane. I've been keeping them to myself, well my blog, but I know she likes to have a nice collection of the finished pieces on the TIAS blog, so I've got to do that. I think I'll leave you this morning with a picture of the daffodils in my front yard that mistakenly believe it's already Spring. Silly daffodils, it's February.

Hearts and Other Tatting

Yep, another busy day. We started back to schooling even though we didn't have to and the children didn't even complain. See, I told you we were all done with laying about. Then I had plenty of work to attend to. I finished up the custom order I mentioned yesterday. Yep, these sparkly hearts are the order. They needed to finish drying and then they got ornament hooks and will be out in the post this morning.

Next it was onto remaking pieces from the order I had gotten at bedtime. It contained a bracelet, a necklace and a mask. I started with the cuff bracelet because the pattern for that one is not yet committed to memory. It's a little more complex of a pattern than my usual ones. It's based on a vintage edging pattern, but I mucked with it so much I can't use the original to make it anymore. Again, I am aware of how much easier I could make my life were I to write things down, but where's the fun in that.

I also managed to get the choker necklace remade from the order as well, which leaves me with the mask. I also woke up this morning to a tatted ring order that actually needs to be made. Of course rings take very little time to work up, but it's yet another thing to make and this week continues to bring me lace tatting joy. I'm crossing my fingers that the trend continues, but even if it doesn't it's been a nice change of pace.

A Bit Of This & A Bit OF That

Sometimes I really do wish that the weekend were longer or cooler, but I got neither this weekend. It was short and hot and I spent more of it remaking things than I had intended. I did get some new invisible threads to try out though. Three different brands and a second roll of the sulky because they have this metallic clear that I think might add a sheen that the others may not. Other than that one though they all work up the same which is pretty awful. I did a couple of test pieces which I failed to take a picture of. It seems the way to make this work at all is to add the invisible thread to size 20 thread until I reach the same size as size 10 thread. The invisible stuff make the worked up white piece look a bit discombobulated as it sits between stitches, but it will lay the same and hopefully will provide the sense of slightly transparency when hit from behind with light.

I'm also mentally working on pattern ideas to fit the art project. I'm waiting for some final sketches and a bit of feedback from the artist to make final decisions though. I'm never really worked with other people on a project, so I felt it was best to take it slow and not get ahead of myself  so that we are on the same page. I don't want to be the one who mucks everything up. Of course until it's actually being done I will continue under the impression that my participation may no longer be required at any point. It's best for my psyche.

In other news I was informed on Friday I believe by a subscriber to Maclean's Magazine that the tatting article many of us are referenced in is in the recent issue. I have no idea if it is on the stands yet since I don't live in Canada, but the same customer scanned the page and emailed it to me. I have to say that while the general tone of the article is great, I wish it were quite a bit longer and I'm a little embarrassed by the characterization of me. I hear tale that they generally post articles from the print edition online about a week later. I'll be keeping an eye out for that so everyone else can see it.

Oh, I almost forgot to share the one new thing I did make over the weekend. One of my customers wondered out loud on twitter if the heart pendant she just purchased from my could possibly be put on a ribbon as a headband with crystals. The wondering was several tweets long. I thought, sure if I stiffen the heart so it doesn't misbehave. I made her a pink one and followed up with a red on for the shop. I sewed on matching swarovski crystals and then used fa-brick to stiffen it from both sides. I find this stuff is great for pieces that need to hold their shape through wear. The lace shows perfectly with a  slight sheen and as a bonus it remains flexible without cracking. I wouldn't use it on jewelry because I love the natural lace, but for this kind of use, it's perfect.

Today will likely be more experiments with clear threads and possibly some more remaking or another heart headband or two. They work up fast, but the stiffening is a delicate job and requires some significant drying time, so it would be wise to do that step in batches...that is if I really think more of them will sell. That, I haven't decided yet.

On Hearts And Other Simple Patterns

Yesterday went down pretty much as expected. We took a family walk in the morning. We watched the husband play video games, believe this is one of the kids favorite things to do and the while time I tatted, working on the two orders in queue and their replacement bits. After all this though we headed to the in-laws so the kids could swim and play with their cousins and eat the barbequed meat I mentioned yesterday. It was during this period that I did something mildly interesting.

I was finishing up a tatted ring, so I had brought my size 20 thread with me. When it was done, I just started playing around and decided to see the difference between the yarn I used for the scarves and this thread by working the same pattern with it. Of course the differences go way beyond just size as yarn creates a floppy mess that has a nice drape and the small thread creates a firm shape. Then I abandoned my earlier plan and mucked with the pattern.

Have you ever noticed that so very many patterns seem to have a flower or heart that can be created with them. It reminded me of how easy these variations are created and I do wonder how many people did start this edging and see the heart I saw. I'm sure it comes out a little different for everyone, but at the end you can still see the pattern it came from and I guess that's the point I'm trying to make.

When you really want to make something different and new, you have to go twelve steps beyond. You can start with the same edging, but don't stop with a simple outline. Start with the edging and build upon it until the starting point is just one small element or a lego in a much more complex structure. Some times it's nice to just doodle like this, just make small changes here and there, I still do it all the time obviously. Just don't ever assume that you were the only person to make that small leap. he problem comes with that assumption and when you stop here and never move on those twelve steps. No, there was no good reason I called it twelve steps other than to illustrate that it's more than a few.

So let's see, today I have another custom order to tackle. This time it's a ribbon bracelet with red ribbons. I also still have a couple of pieces that need remaking and schooling is back in session. It's going to be a long day, I can already feel it.

You Weren't Suppose To Be A Heart

I can feel the season winding down and the orders getting smaller. I can generally expect to continue getting the 'I'm shopping for myself now' orders all the way through the month, but then January is a dead zone. I'm been pretty good about keeping things remade so when the dead zone hits it will be time to design and work on a few more tutorials and videos that I have intended to do for some time now. My first video as now broken 50,000 views and the redo with me talking in now at 10,000. To say these numbers shock me is a severe understatement, but they also tell me that there is an audience out there for the videos.

I totally did not intend to go off on that tangent, I was going to show you what I made yesterday while I was suppose to be making something else entirely. I was making the base for a fascinator. It's the same motif I use for my corsage bracelets and was born from a vintage edging that I couldn't get to lay straight so I turned it on itself. Anyway, as I turned around the corner this time I decided that it would be a heart today. The one on the top was the first iteration and in the end I think my favorite. I made the second just to see if a cleaner line looked better. While some folk on the twitter preferred the second, most still liked the first better. I agree, it has more character.

I have schooling today and then a dental appointment, but I think I will get around to turning the heart into a pendant at least. I think I'm going to hang it at an angle rather than straight from the center. It was suggested that I might make matching earrings as well, so I might make some of those with smaller thread, since I think this size, almost two inches, in this shape might be too bulky. It was also suggested that it might be a great centerpiece for a choker. This I did try out yesterday and abandoned as I didn't like the way it was shaping up at all. That doesn't mean I won't give it another go of course, but down the line I think. I guess this just foes to show that busy or not, I simply cannot stop creating. I am always afraid that I will run out of new ideas, but aside from short lived cases of creators block, they always come back and boy do I hope that will always be the case.