DS9Designs Fiber Fun

Tatted Butterfly

2010-02-17T15:46:00.004-07:00

This beautiful butterfly is designed by Sherry Pence and is in her book "The Exquisite Collection of Tatted Butterflies". It is available from her Etsy shop, LadyShuttleMaker's shop, http://www.etsy.com/shop/LadyShuttleMaker?section_id=5051320. I tatted this one with Lizbeth size 20 thread, colors 655 and 656, Wedgewood Light and Wedgewood Dark.

The pattern is easy to work, but I had a difficult time with this. Probably because I was WATCHING the Olympics instead of my tatting! The wings are tatted first and individually. When you tat the body, you join to both wings. The first attempt at tatting the body, I ended up with the top of the wings facing downward. My next attempt I joined the right wing at the wrong picots. Definitely lopsided. The 3rd time I actually paid more attention and it came out fine.

More tatting

2010-02-16T11:48:00.002-07:00

Here is the pinwheel pattern by Mary Konior from her book "Tatting with Visual Patterns". This is tatted with Lizbeth size 20, color 104. I think this variegation detracts from this particular pattern. I'm not a big fan of white in variegated threads, but it was still fun to tat! Didn't have enough thread on my shuttles several times for this, so have lots of thread additions in this project! I have the 11 new Lizbeth colors ordered and they should arrive soon. I'm looking forward to playing with those.

My latest tatting

2010-02-14T12:34:00.005-07:00

Hi all, I have been tatting a few items from Mary Konior's book "Tatting with Visual Patterns". The heart is one of my favorite heart patterns and is tatted in size 40 Lizbeth thread, color 129. The cross is also another favorite and is tatted with size 20 Lizbeth thread, color 124. Here is the picture:

Knitted Lace Shawls

2009-12-09T11:08:00.005-07:00

This is Bison Shawlette by Rene E Wel, published in 101 Small Indulgences--Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders edited by Judith Durant. The yarn is Jojoland's Harmony, 100% merino wool. 880 yards per 50g. I think I knit this on either size 2 or 3 needles. Makes a lovely shoulder wrap.

The second shawl is Swallowtail Lace shawl with extra repeats and is designed by Evelyn Clark. Knit on size 4 needles with Jojoland Melody superwash wool (220 yards per 50 grams)

The third shawl is a lovely pink shawl made from KnitPicks Shadow, color Pink Posy. 100% merino wool, heathered lace weight yarn. 440 yards/50 grams and knit on size 4 needles. This is Mountain Flowers Shawl from Granny an Me Designs, designed by Rene E Wells. This is going to my sister-in-law who is a 5+ year breast cancer survivor! Way to go Suzi!!! The close-up shows the beads added at the points.

Miniature crochet bear

2009-08-10T18:12:00.003-06:00

Hi all,

Haven't posted for a long time. I have been busy regaining range of motion and strength after breaking my right shoulder blade in a bicycle accident back in March. I have 1 last physical therapy session to attend and then just exercises at home! Mom is in the hospital after having had heart valve replacement surgery last week and I crocheted her this miniature bear. Pattern is Sam by Edith Molina ( http://ludysbears.tripod.com/ ) and I used size 12 Valdani Pearl cotton. Thought mom might appreciate a get-well-soon present. The little guy is about 2 1/2" tall if he could stand (didn't quite attach the legs right so he could stand) and is about 2" tall when sitting. Lots of fun to make and keeps the hands busy. I will be heading to California to spend a bit of time with mom later this week and will visit again for a couple weeks in September.

Chartreuse Dichroic Glass NEcklace

2009-03-01T15:26:00.005-07:00

Hi guys,

No tatting, knitting or crocheting in this beauty--just beading. The focal point of the pendant is a stunning dichroic glass cabochon by artist Donna Garside-Cason. The rest was created by me. A one-of-a-kind piece!

19 Ring Heart

2009-02-11T17:46:00.005-07:00

Hi all,

I have been having fun the last week working on a heart design. Some were too fat, others were too skinny, but I really like this one. It has 19 rings in it, hence the name 19 Ring Heart. If I had planned better, I would have had 22 rings in it to celebrate our upcoming 22nd wedding anniversary. Pattern is available for sale on my website. Sorry folks--no freebies on this one. My last day at my part time job was February 6th, which I missed due to stomach flu! No income from a part time job anymore, so gotta make up the difference with the tatting business!

Tatted Necklace and Snowflake Pendant

2009-01-25T17:28:00.003-07:00

I have been working on this design for some time and have it finalized in necklace form. The pattern isn't available yet, but thought you'd like to see the finished product! Hope you enjoy the eyecandy.

Knitted Vest

2009-01-06T15:20:00.005-07:00

Hi all,

I just finished this up last night and had hubby take a couple pictures. The pattern is Beech Leaf Vest by Dorothy Siemens of Fiddlesticks Knitting. The fiber is 100% superwash Merino wool, Knit Picks Swish DK in color Amethyst Heather. The "backside" picture is a bit blurry, but you can still see that there are 3 repeats of the beech leaf pattern. It is nice and warm!

The edge of the vest is crochet chain. While I was working on this, I dropped the crochet hook, which the couch quickly ate. In looking in all the couch's nooks and crannies and underneath, I discovered 8 crochet hooks! And of course, the hook I needed was the last one I found!

Progression of design

2009-01-06T15:13:00.003-07:00

Hi all,

Camera is up and running, so I thought I'd show you some of the projects I've been working on. Below is a progression of a snowflake idea. The upper left flake turned out too floppy, but I really liked the design. So the snowflake in the upper right was the next version. This one is nice but didn't quite have the open space I wanted. Try number 3 is on the lower left--not enough space using short bugle beads. The final version, lower right came out pretty nice. And the picture below shows the grand finale!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T11:22:00.002-07:00

Hi all,

My digital camera hasn't been working, so no new photos in the past couple months. I have finished knitting a triangular lace shawl (haven't tucked the ends in yet!), tatted a necklace, designed a tatted snowflake, and tatted many Christmas ornaments.

I wish you all a great Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Glow in the Dark Thread

2008-10-20T16:15:00.005-06:00

This week I have been having a blast tatting snowflakes with NiteLite and NiteLite ExtraGlow glow-in-the-dark thread. This is 40 and 30 wt polyester thread. The NiteLite glows the best, but is finer than a size 100 cordonnet thread. The ExtraGlow is thicker and is about the size of 100. It tats up nicely and is SO MUCH FUN to look at in the dark! Below are 2 pictures (larger than actual size) with Rozella Linden's snowflake 2006 pattern. The flake on the left is NiteLite ExtraGlow (about 1.75" across) and the one of the right is NiteLite (about 1.50" across).

Razzle Dazzle Tatting Fun

2008-09-12T09:42:00.003-06:00

Hi all,

I've been having fun tatting with Razzle Dazzle--a sparkly polyester thread from Superior Threads. The thread is multi-stranded that separates easily, so you need to tie a knot in the end to keep it from unraveling. Scratchy to the touch and a bit troublesome to work with--probably comparable to a size 20 cordonnette thread. When tatting, rings close well, but you need to watch out when you join or untat to get all the strands at the same time. Crocheting works okay, you just crochet a little slower to make sure you have all the strands.

With that said, tatting and crochet projects look stunning due to the sparkly nature of the thread and it is perfect for holiday items such as snowflakes! The finished projects are well worth the minor frustration of working with this thread.

Pictures show a flying minor Norwegian dragon, tatted with color 275, a nice sparkly dark green. Pattern is by Anne Bruvold and can be found here: http://nuperelle.net/drager/monstre/MinidragerEng.pdf The next picture shows Celtic Snowflake 2006, pattern by Rozella Linden tatted with color 270--a sparkly pink and light blue thread. Rozella's pattern is in the yahoo group Celtic Tatting in the file section http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CelticTatting/

Triangular Shawl

2008-08-16T14:48:00.002-06:00

This is the yarn from the triangular lace shawl kit designed by Galina. I do have a skein winder and yarn swift on order but I couldn't wait for those to arrive, so got the first color wound by hand and the left edge on the needles. The yarn is merino/silk blend and I am using size 0 needles for this.

IOLI goodies

2008-08-16T14:24:00.004-06:00

While I was at IOLI (International Old Lacers Inc.) annual lace convention, I bought some goodies. My main purchases were yarn from Skaska Designs (think Russian Orenburg lace). At Skaska, I bought 2 skeins of Heaven (55% merino wool, 45% tencel)--125 grams and 3280 yards per skein. Very fine yarn. I got a lovely purple skein as well as a deep greenish-blue one. I also got a lovely skein of white Merino Lace--100 grams, 1375 yards. No picture of these. I then got an interesting ball of Graceful Lace Yarn--a wool variegate that goes from rusty orange to green to blue. I am fascinated to see how this works up. I also splurged and got a triangular lace shawl kit, designed by Galina herself. I've already got this one started on the needles.

From Duchesse, I bought several incredible pieces of sterling silver jewelry from Brussels. Shown is a delicate butterfly pendant The Duchesse jewelry is inspired by Brussels lace.

And I almost forgot. I got this lovely carved wooden box from Skaska. This is the lid of the box. The sides are also carved as well as the interior of the lid.

Finished!

2008-07-24T15:35:00.004-06:00

This is the finished piece showing both the front and the back. After I had the back leather glued to the front and the beaded edge about half done, I decided I needed a little more pizzazz at the bottom. I ended up adding another cone flower and really like the results. This is one of those pieces I look at and go "Wow! Did I do that?"

Butterflies Added

2008-07-23T17:12:00.002-06:00

I got some lovely 6mm Swarovski crystal butterflies on Monday. I added a crystal AB and a fuchsia one to the piece. You can see thread tails sticking out on the sides. The next step will be to glue a leather backing onto the piece and sew the edges together while adding beads.

Tatting and Beads Added

2008-07-14T18:39:00.002-06:00

Well, I added the tatted curlyques to the piece and then sewed on some bead embellishments. Am waiting for a fuchsia swarovski crystal 6mm butterfly from Fire Mountain Gems to see if that would work well with the piece.

Dichroic Cabochon Pendant

2008-07-13T13:52:00.003-06:00

In June, I took a class from Karen Miner at the PNW Lace Conference. I learned the fun of creating stunning works of jewelry using a focal point, tatting and bead embellishments. This is what I am working on next--a dichroic cabochon attached to leather. A tatted chain encompassing it with beads. I have then played with lots of options for tatting to go with this and these curlyques are what I have liked the best. Thread is Flora size 20 in black; Valdani 35 wt sewing cotton color V3 Fuchsia Love, King Tut 40 wt quilting cotton colors 924 Lime Stone and 927 De Nile and DMC 80 color #917. Seed Beads are size 15 Miyuki and size 11 Delicas.

The dichroic cabochon is from Donna Cason and is a true work of art. Her website is http://www.designercabs.biz/ and her service is incredible. The cabochon I am working with is about 3/4" long and the leather piece is 1 3/4". Picture is enlarged to show the details.