Tree Top Ornament

Haven't done alot lately. I've just gotten over a retina surgery. I'm happy to report it's all better. I am very grateful for that. Last Nov I had a detached retina on my left eye repaired. The recovery took 3 months. This year I had the same surgery on my right eye done. The recovery on it has been only 3 weeks. I am  extremely grateful for such a fast recovery.
This Tree topper is from the book Tatting for Today, written by DMC in 1980. I only have 5 1/4 inch rings so I added a row to it and used size 20 thread rather than the required 10. I hope to make some more. My pupil is still dilated so it lets in more light than it should. But I'm seeing good enough to tat. And that's all that matters. Right? 😃

A Galaxy

I've tatted a galaxy of stars. This is from Monica Hahn's book Christmas Angles and Other Tatting Patterns.

Christmas Stars

These are my latest endeavors for Christmas. They are from "Christmas Angels and Other Tatting Patterns." by Monica Hahn. They are very fun to make and not complicated. I've put gold beads along the outer perimeter.

Snowflakes for 2018

Here are four snowflakes that I've gotten done so far. The top two and bottom right are from Harolah the Shade Tree Designer. They are for a friend who plans to send them to Australia as part of her Christmas present to her friends. I put sparkle on them. But, unfortunately the sparkles don't show up in the picture.

This is my latest endeavor. I had done a fall market at our Legion. It must have been a cold day outside because I had a lot of interest in my hats. I sold the only adult one in this style so decided to try to make more before the Nov. Christmas market.

Bracelet by Harolah

I've just finished making the Simplicity bracelet designed by Harolah Cheser. I made it a little too long but maybe I'll find someone with big wrists. 🌝

Back in the Tatting Saddle

I've been crocheting towel toppers all summer. I finally quit after making about 25. I have a craft market at the end of this month. So I'm happy to be back to tatting again. ♪♪♩I'M BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN.♪♪

These are my latest endeavors. The top is flannel receiving blankets. The idea came from Dianne Cademartori, whom we know is such a talented lady. I bought the flannel 3 years ago. It took my daughter-in-law getting pregnant for me to get my butt in gear and get them done. Now we wait to hear if it will be a boy or a girl.

The bottom one is an idea from a pot holder that had already been made. I picked it up at a garage sale. Only the original was made of acrylic. I had put it in our holiday trailer and thought someday I would build one. Well, poor hubby got a hold of it and put a very hot frying pan on it and it melted. (Who makes a pot holder out of acrylic?) So I took what was left of it into the house and made another. Only cotton this time. I'm sure DH will be afraid to use it for awhile.

Here's my C2C progress. I've learned to always buy my yarn cakes with the same shade in the center. The color goes in a sequence. But if the centers of each ball are a different color, I'll loose one shade in the sequence. You can see in the last row I'm missing the teal color. Nobody will notice it, so I'm not going to cut a bunch of yarn off just for that. But I'm glad I realized it.
I'm enjoying making this, but on hot days it's a bit to warm. So, I have a TV tray that just fits on my arm chair. That way I can put the blanket on top of the TV tray and then turn on the cool air fan. The cool air blows under the tray to keep me cool.

C2C progress

Here' some more progress. I'd like to make it into a rectangle. Gotta find some more of that yarn.

The Three Amigos and a C2C

It's hard to photograph this on such a dreary, rainy day. I've made three of Jane's geckos and put them in a row on a long frame. I'm pretty happy with them.

Also I've started a c2c blanket. I've been wanting to try it for a while. I had about three false starts before I finally got going right. It pays to read ALL the instructions.

Jane's Gecko

After a few struggles I've finally made Jane's gecko. I had to amputate one leg as I'd put it on backwards. Now that I understand the pattern I'd like to make a red one.

Kitty in the Garden

Well, such as it is. Maybe it would be suitable in a baby room. Or something.

Bits and pieces

I'm having lots of fun making pictures. These will eventually be incorporated somewhere. I do like to put them on my blog first. The heart is from Jan Stawasz's book Tatted Treasures. The butterflies are from Lindsay Rogers' Tatting Collage. And last but certainly not least is Jane Eborall's cute little puppy, which can sometimes be used for a sheep (sorry Jane). He is a cutie.

Completed Swan picture

I had a hard time taking a picture of this. So it's not very clear. I tatted the swan from Mark Meyers patterns. On the left is a weeping tree. I was aiming for an English park. I found a nice shadow box frame. It opens from the front. That was a dilemma for a while, as the painting had 1/4 inch white edges and it showed. I finally managed to cut out a black mat so that solved my issue.

Swan

I just made this swan from Mark Meyers patterns. I added an eye.

Baby Afghan

Just finished this baby blanket. It's to put on top of the baby while it's in a car seat. The straps hook over the car seat handle. I enjoyed making the blanket, but the puppy was too fiddly for my taste. Well it's for our first grandchild who's due in Aug. So, it's special. I got the kit and pattern from Mary Maxim, started and didn't like their pattern or the sport yarn. So I bought worsted yarn and used a different pattern. I kept the puppy.

Addition to sunset

I put a little critter in my sunset pic. It's framed in a shadow box frame. Sorry picture not too good.

Sea turtle and sunset

I gave Jane's Sea Turtle a try today. I usually try things in white first before I use color. I'll give it another go with some pretty green.

Winter scene and funny pic

 I painted this about a month ago. But, I didn't like the tree in the foreground. A friend advised me how to redo it. So this morning, I redid it. I like it better, but I'm still not thrilled. My husband says it's a pine, they are a scrawny tree.

I found this picture on Facebook. I love it. It's on a crocheters site. I'm debating what I'd put on it for a meme. 

Renulek's 2018 spring doily

Well there's row 7. I won't be able to fit it in the scanner anymore. I like the butterfly row. Alas, I am not able to continue for a while. It is bothering my frozen rotater cuff. Especially my bicep. That is very frustrating. I need to finish a crochetted baby blanket for my first grandchild also, but that bothers the arm too. Baby due in Aug, so hopefully I can get back to it soon. 😓

Alcohol ink and tatting

Here's another tatting on an alcohol ink background. We were supposed to created a forest. My daughter had the good idea to tat some small forest friends and glue onto it. Ceramic is difficult to glue anything to, but I found some very good glue for this one. Worked better than Crazy glue or Gorilla glue. It's call Elmer's Craft Bond. It's for gluing embellishments like rhinestones and gems. It even worked good for the hangers on the back. My hangers are soda pop tabs. 

Art class

My daughter and I took an art class using a paint called Guache. Never used it before. It was great fun. It's like water color but more forgiving.

TIAS mermaid

Bev from South Australia gave me this inspiration. I painted alcohol ink on a square of ceramic tile. Then tatted the fish, star fish and mermaid. It was very hard to glue. Crazy glue didn't want to work and Gorilla glue took forever to dry. But, at last it's done.

Renulek's 2018 spring doily, row 6

Here's row 6 of Renulek's 2018 spring doily. It's getting a little warped. I hope I did it right.

Renulek spring doily 2018

I am working on Renulek's spring doily 2018.

Two little mermaids

Here are my two mermaids from Jane's TIAS. They are very fun to make.

tree and owl

I'm having fun with Lindsay Rogers' Scots pine and owl. I think it needs something more, but don't know what.

Jane's flower bookmark

I'm not very happy with how I did on Jane's bookmark. I've got chains going every direction. Not sure what I was doing.

Improved flower baskets

 Thanks to some helpful suggestions I added some more flowers to my basket and also made another one. I also added some tatted ribbons. This was a fun and simple project.

Card

Now I'm making greeting cards. Does it need more flowers?

Classic Heart

Lace-lovin'-Librarian posted this recently. It's Robin Perfetti's Classic Heart. Available on Etsy. It's very pretty and not too difficult to make. I had this one done in two evenings. I used Lizbeth size 20 Rainbow Splash.

Chinese dragon

I had fun making Martha Ess' Chinese dragon. I put a googley eye on him instead of the bead. It shows up better. My fellow looks like he's surprised about something. I had planned on putting him on a painting, but he has so much character that I might try something simpler for a background.

Two paintings

I've been playing in the paint a bit.
I tatted the unicorn and painted northern lights on the top. The canvas was black to start with.
The snow scene is from an art class I've been taking. My camera didn't help any as there are reflections on it. But it was all fun.

Two more window ornaments

I've made two more of these. Now all my 5 inch rings are used up, so I'm moving on. I think they might look nice hung in a window any time of year.

Blizzard Snowflake 2017

I just had to try Harolah's Blizzard Snowflake 2017. It's fun. I made two differences. I felt every SR in round one needed a vsp before the second half of the SR not just the first. Also on round 2 I made the last chain a split chain. That makes it land where it should be for the next round. Overall its a very unique snowflake.

Still making snowflakes

Yes I've still been making snowflakes. As long as I can't see out of one eye very well, I'm trying to keep it simple. I am getting some vision in the top half of my left eye. So, a few more weeks perhaps.
I do want to start crocheting as my son and daughter-in-law have announced they are 9 weeks along with our first grand child. 😁
The top left snowflake is from Romana Stelmach. Designed in 2014. The lower right is from Tatting for Today by Marion T. Leyds, published in 1980. My Christmas tree is still up, so I'm just keeping them for myself. I've made some more snowdrops also. My daughter asked for pink. I'll see if she will let me borrow it back to take a pic.