Tat's Heaven

  This will definitely be my last post of 2020 a year that I have not been blogging that much. This is mainly because I did not have a lot to show, tatting seemed to be low on my priority list most of the time. I have tatted these snowflakes they are not a unique design in anyway but I loved the way they turned out with the Pearl beads. The white one was the first, the red one the second and when I got to the green one the bead placements and thread count was much better.  I am going to tat a few more of them and then it is back to the special pattern that I am trying to design. I gave up some months ago when things were going horribly wrong with it. 

I know this is a little late but here is Santa’s empty sleigh after all the presents have been delivered and parked up for next year! The thing is I have only just finished tatting it, so obviously this version is also going to be packed away until next Year. The pattern is from Pam Palmer’s book Tatting treats and I decided that instead of using white cotton which is the version illustrated in her book I would use Christmas colours and beads. It isn’t pressed yet and resting on a cushion so may look a bit bumpy but it really is a well thought out pattern and will not need much more attention.   I am now going to start thinking about some Christmas tatting ideas of my own as I find that I can cope with the idea of having nearly twelve months to actually bring them to fruition. 

  Have not achieved much tatting on the run-up to Christmas, but then I did manage to finish off a few unfinished pieces as well as making about 20 cards. At this very moment working on a picture that may or may not get finished today, depends on planned or unplanned distractions! Not able to be with any of my family this year because of very strict Covid restrictions so may be a good opportunity to get those tatting shuttles working harder than usual!  The bells are from Pam Palmers’s book Tatting Treats and I was going to make Santa’s sledge from the same book, may be I will over the next few days! 

Another piece of tatting that I started a year ago and have just finished!  A cheerful snowman to brighten up your day. Now off to finish a few more Christmas projects, only have a few days left to catch up, otherwise they will be packed away for another year.  The pattern can be found here  but with a different hat, I think this hat was on the original pattern, I like it better than the one on the updated pattern. 

As usual I have left everything to the last minute but really not interested in preparing for the festive season this year. I have tatted the simplest snowflake going and used a glue dot to stick them on to cards. This is so that they can easily be taken off and used as a Christmas decoration by the recipient. The snowflake in the middle of the display is a favourite design that I keep coming back to and is one of Martha Ess’s patterns.

What I so enjoyed doing when we were away on holiday last month was to walk along the beaches and find interesting shells, stones and sea glass.   Although at the time I did not know exactly what I would do with the bits that were collected . The sea glass amounted to a large cup full of various shapes, colours and sizes. This is what I have used the first bits for. I  glued the glass onto the prepared wooden piece in the shape of a Christmas tree, used the  pyrography pen to mark around the edges and then tatted a  string of lights to go around the branches. 

I tatted this robin quite a few years ago, it lingered for another year or two without any legs and then the legs were finally attached to branch and again it never got finished but was put away for another Christmas. Last week I added the beak and finished the last few bits off!  There are a few more robins hanging around somewhere that must get completed! And the pattern is here designed by my sister Jane.