Elegant Motifs

Some motifs from Jon Yusoff's Elegant Tatting Gems.  All tatted with Lizbeth No 20. Motifs 3-5 for the 25 Motif Challenge.

Adan.

Adiratna.  Not too thrilled with the center of this one. Going to make it again I think.

Ratnawilis. This one was really fun!

Doiles in progress

I've started a few larger projects, and decided to do this one in some green thread I bought for Christmas tatting because it's the only large ball of size 30 I had on me.  It's the Distinctive Luncheon Set from Tatting Doilies and Edgings (Rita Weiss), made with Cebelia No 30, color 699.

(Notice my lovely GR-8 shuttle in Purpleheart. I'm finallly learning how to adjust the tension faster.)

And the other doily in progress at the moment is Large Centerpiece, from Tatting With Anne Orr, made with Cebelia No 20, color 712. I'm not entirely thrilled with how it's turning out because the second round is a bit crowded, but I kept on anyways to see how it would turn out.  Maybe I can fix this when I do my final blocking. I'm working on making spaces even between rings, and on consistent picot sizes.  

Using split rings between the motifs on the current round.  I join to the last row with the second ring, then switch shuttles and do ring three on the bottom.  Ring four is a split ring, as is ring one of the next motif.  So far so good!

(Love my Pop-a-Bobbin shuttle and have 2 more on the way soon!)

Also have three motifs finished from Jon Yusoff's Elegant Tatting Gems that I will photograph hopefully tomorrow and post as motifs 3-5 for the Challenge.

Happy Tatting!

Photography practice needed!

One of my goals today was to take some pictures of all the medallions and edgings I've been working on in the past few months. Unfortunately, my camera apparently didn't think that was a good plan because after taking a few pictures the battery died, so it's now resting on the charger.  The pictures I took turned out awful anyways because I wasn't in good lighting (i.e., I was being lazy and trying to take them from our couch), so that's probably a good thing.  I'll try again in the next few days.

I need to find something to use for a background too.  Lighter color is good for some but maybe not others.  I want to show my tatting off as best as I can (of course!) so I will do some experimenting.  How do you all take your pictures? Where do you do it, and what do you use for backgrounds? Natural light is best for the other pictures I like to take but I'm wondering if it will wash out some of the colors in my tatting.  I think I'll enjoy figuring this out.  I've got a nice camera that I can either set manually or use an option that adjusts everything automatically depending on light, etc. That's what I normallly use, but I'd really like to understand more about  how to make these adjustments on my own.

This picture was the best of the lot, so I'm going to go ahead and post it to feel like I accomplished something today.  It's entry #2 for the 25 Motif Challenge, a medallion from Anne Orr's Classic Tatting Patterns in Lizbeth size 20. I can't remember the exact color but I've seen lots of people use it because it's so pretty!

Obviously my "couch photography" was NOT a good idea, including the wooden-topped lap board I chose for a background. Next pictures will be better!

P.S. Thanks, Jane, for following me! I really admire (read: LOVE) your work, so I feel like a tatting world celebrity is following this little blog I've started. You made me smile.

Tatting Again!!

I taught myself to tatt several years ago, but picked it up again in February of this year after my father passed away and I needed a distraction.  It worked.  An avid knitter, I've put my knitting on hold for a while and am now obsessed with perfecting my tatting.  I found several blogs online that I love, most of which I've included in my "links" section.  When I found the 25 Motif Challenge blog, I decided a challenge was just what I need right now.  So, today I am going to sign up for it and start posting the tatting I've been working on since February.  I've completed so many already this year that it's not going to take me long to get to 25 and don't intend to stop there!

Need to take pictures of everything so I can start posting, but here's one that I do have a picture of.  While I was tatting it I thought about my dad, so it's appropriate that this be my first picture.  It's Large Round Medallion with Cross from Anne Orr's Classic Tatting Patterns, made with Lizbeth No. 20.

This picture was taken before blocking, placed on my project case (thus the other stuff you can see in the background).  Going to work on making my other pictures much prettier.

Just like with my knitting, I have several projects "on the shuttles" right now.  I'm working a few from Anne Orr including her Rectangular Luncheon Set and Large Centerpiece doily.  I've also done several medallions from her books to get me into the swing of things.  I love books and (amongst several others) recentlly bought Mary Konior's Tatting With Visual Patterns and Jon Yusoff's Elegant Tatting Gems. Wonderful books! Jon's medallions are fun to make and are so pretty.  And Mary's book...wow.  I'd been coveting it for a while and found a new copy at Zig-Zag Corner Tatting for $59.95.  I'd love to have her other tatting books if I can ever get my hands on them for a reasonable price.

Right now I'm practicing split rings and want to learn how to succesfully do split chains and SCMRs. I have saved all the how-to materials I can find; just need to practice. 

I've been really enjoying reading everyone's blogs about tatting and hope to make some new online tatting friends!  Comments/feedback/suggestions are always welcome.