Christmas List!!

Keeping track of everything has been a bit weird lately. I ended up dropping a class from school because I had taken on too much. Math seems as if it will be the bane of my existence until I get it over with or get out of school. Not sure which yet, though.

So, in order for me to remember what I need to be doing to keep on-track, this is my Christmas List for this year:

1. Mack - scarf, green. Have the yarn and am about a 1/2 way through the first skein.
2. Kelly - Scarf, again, but in black. Need to choose the yarn.
3. M - not sure what he's getting yet...
4. M's family - Preserves, jams, jellies, etc. Also a few tatted ornaments, possibly scarves? (need to get on the ball with this.. Nana is already down for the wedding!!)

My immediate family does some weird Christmas traditions, so I haven't decided on them just yet, although I am thinking about making a doily for my gran on dad's side. Nan I'm not to sure about, since her china cabinet is full and overflowing!!

Also, I'm finding that the bamboo yarn I chose for Mack is actually kind of gorgeous. I'm going to have to go stock up on it -- it's easy to work with and is very soft. Well worth the $4.99 price tag, let me tell you!

Threads!!

I'm really kicking myself at the moment -- Hobby Lobby had all their Lizbeth thread on sale for $2.66/ball. I managed to get two, however I didn't make it back in time to get some other colors. Ces't la vie, right?

Went to Michael's yesterday with my mom, and got a few new threads and thought that I would share what I have at the moment:


The colors/makes are:
Lizbeth size 20:

• Dark Purple
• Bright Turquoise
• Country Turquoise
• Antique Violet
• Harvest Orange

Royale Fashion Crochet Thread size 3

• Plum

And last but not least, DMC Baroque size 10, White.

The skein of white is too large for me to handle, so I've wound some on a floss holder, as I have with several other colors that I've been using lately. This is also a partial list with the majority of my threads. All my HDT's are at home, but they have already been pictured on a previous post, as well as Lizabeth Caribbean thread which I have misplaced at the moment..

This is what I've been working on, though I've been pushing it to the side to work on other things.


M has an aunt who is from Ireland and is a really, really sweet lady. I spent some time up with her as well as some other wonderful woman this past June, back when I had first started to tat. I
decided that I'm going to tat up some ornaments for these ladies, and right now I'm getting in some practice with weaving some celtic knots. This pattern can be found here: http://tatcal.wordpress.com/page/8/

Still trying to decide what all to send in the giftbaskets of Southern goodness, but I do know that some sort of jelly will be involved. Need to get the baskets and get shipping rates as well -- kinda need to know that so I'll know how much I can send!

Also, ran in to some problems with the ornament that I was working on and decided to re-start with a smaller thread:


DMC size 80, with the smallest needle that I have. The stitches aren't laying right, but I suppose I will be able to fix this when I block it.

Not only is the first half too large, but I cut the threads without hiding them too short and it's starting to come unravled on the third round. Since the Christmas things haven't gone on sale at Hobby Lobby yet, I am trying this at a smaller scale (which looks to fit currently, however that could change at row 3). More pictures up of the orniments when I get the chance!

I've aslo got a few finished snowflakes to add:

Both need to be blocked. The second one has some minor mistakes, and I will be making a new one sometime soon. The patterns are both in my book, however I don't have the link for the first one with me at the moment. The second one is located at:

http://tatsaway-patterns.blogspot.com/2008/12/quantiesque-snowflake.html

I learned how to read a chart from Jon's page, though I had a bit of trouble with the Quantiesque because I was using a single needle instead of two shuttles.

More later!

Current works..

School has started again, but that isn't stopping my attempts at tatting! Since it's so close to Christmas, I have started on some Christmas-y patterns, and this is the first:


This is a beaded ornament by Debbie Arnold, and is the first that I have attempted to go on a ball. I will need to get a set of larger glass balls since the ones that I have are just a little too small..

As you can see in my picture, I'm tatting with a needle and using a shuttle that has a crochet hook at the end. The hook is smaller than my other full-sized hooks, and is perfect for this. I'm also using the thread that has been wound on a floss holder. The ball this was being tatted off of is getting a little wild since I'm so close to the end of it!

So far, this has Lizabeth Dark Purple and Bright Turqoise (I think). I don't have the numbers of them with me at the moment.. I might also use Carribbian when I get to the third and fourth rows. Haven't decided, since this is a sample project and is by no means going to be a final product.

There are many, many mistakes on this one, however I am only using one needle instead of two. More later!