New Tatting Shuttle

I received another gorgeous tatting shuttle in the mail today - this time from the Shuttle Shop. On the reverse side it has a lovely snowflake.

Bobbin Lace Mat

A work friend recently celebrated her 40th birthday and a couple of weeks before she turned 40 I discovered she had a nest of three tables with glass insert; a perfect opportunity (read, excuse) to make some lace mats as a present (albeit, late birthday present).


I started the first mat yesterday (after 2 1/2 hours of tedious preparation with bobbin winding and pricking). Once I finish this set of three I will be starting another identical set for my nest of tables!

Ewe Beaut Fibre sampler box

Today I received my first fibre gift box with lots of lovely goodies to play with. Besides fibre and yarn, there is a lovely bead and stitch holder.

Lace Mat

Completed my lace mat (69 pairs of bobbins). Once it is blocked/pressed I think it will look good. The pattern is Carre de dentelle aux quatre paves de points fantaisie and I experimented with the Schneeberg finishing technique; I am most happy with this technique although I have no way mastered it yet.

December CAL

Finished my last two squares for the 2009 crochet-along. Now I just need to piece them all together; I'm not sure how I will do this yet.

Lace Christmas Present

I received an "awesome" (to use my childrens' language) Christmas present from my friend Alison Dews in UK. She sent me a wonderful Christmas star kit which includes lace pattern and the steel star outline. Also, have a look at her handmade lace Christmas card, with two spangled lace bobbins.

Alison, thank you very much for this - I do know you won't read this but I will also thank you in my next letter.

xx

Cactus Silk

Look what else I received in today's mail. I got the "heads up" at my spinning group on the weekend and got some Cactus silk - yep, CACTUS SILK. My understanding is there are two types of Cactus silk; the fibre from the agave plant in Morocco/Mexico, and rayon. This silk is supposed to be from the plant.

Isn't it just stunning. The colours are so vibrant. I can't wait until I have a play. I will ply it with some fibre, and maybe even use some of the silk for my lacemaking.

Lace Bobbin and shuttle

In today's mail I received my stunning Gumnut tatting shuttle and lace bobbin, celebrating the group's 5th year anniversary. They are both lovely samples of artistic talent (thank you Britt very much) and superbly made.

Lace Coasters

I made two set of six lace coasters (glass coasters) - one set for me and one for someone extremely special, whom I can't name in case she sees this post.

I'm rather concerned she may not like them, because she is not crafty and therefore doesn't realise the amount of time that goes in to bobbin lace.

October is for Spinners textured scarf

It took me three months but I finally finished this textured scarf in cashmere. I started out with four strands of super-fine yarn and ended up at the lacey end with just two. The pattern is really something out-of-the-ordinary, but I just love it.

Who would have thought I would actually knit something to do with spiders when I hate them so much!

Lacemaker ATC

Guess I'm on a roll here - this is another ATC I made, this time of a lady making lace and decorated with some lace (not handmade) down the side of the card.

25 Tatting Motif Challenge - #2 and #3

This is an Artist Trading Card I made with two tatted motifs (a butterfly and a dandelion) on cardstock decorated with paper. I had a break from making ATCs but thought they are perfect for little tatted motifs.

Lace Bobbins

Spent a wonderful day yesterday at the Lace Guild Christmas breakup and brought some goodies including various bobbins and a tatting shuttle. However, for me the, piece da resistance was the horsehair pillow. My first horsehair and I can't wait to use it.

Twilight

OK, I am standing up, confessing to my addiction. I LOVE TWILIGHT. I have watched it so many times that I have lost count. And isn't Edward just divine (yep, I'm old enough to be his mum but that isn't stopping me).

I was unsure how I would find NEW MOON the sequel, and without giving too much away, I LOVED IT. OMG, I was very annoyed at the ending because I now need to see ECLIPSE - I can't wait until next year, I want to see it now!

BTW I thoroughly enjoyed the Stephanie Meyer series and recommend reading it before seeing any of the movies.

Christmas lace bobbins

I received a gorgeous pair of Madagascar ebony lace bobbins from my lace teacher and guru, Jill Hurley for Christmas this year. I thought it appropriate to keep with the Christmas theme and spangle them with Chrissie charms

25 Tatting Motif Challenge - #1

Here is my first motif for the challenge, a butterfly tatted in DMC Cotton Perl *. Thanks to Soyloquesoy for the pattern.

Bobbin Lace Mat

My mat is almost finished. It was a 10 mointh project with my lace group, but all that is now needed is to sew cut off the bobbins and sew in the thread.

November CAL

Finished November's crochet along, and I have only two

more to do before I sew the afghan together. I won't be doing another one next year, I shall have a break, because I'm finding it a big commitment.

Tatted Earrings

Here is a recently completed pair of tatted earrings using Finca thread and beads. The pattern is very easy (definitely suitable for beginners) and by Elizabeth C Zipay.

Tatting Shuttle

Here is my brand new handmade tatting shuttle from Neil Keats - it's just glorious, and ooh so smooth. The red colour (not sure of the name of the wood) is beautiful.

Edit: Neil has told me the wood is Swamp Mahogany burl.

Lace Candle in a Ring

Just completed a lace Christmas decoration for the tree this year. This lovely candle in a ring was designed is by Janice Blair.

The countdown to Christmas begins.............

Lace Bobbin

Just had to show my gorgeous new bobbin which just arrived in today's mail. It's a bone lace bobbin from the UK Lace Guild.

Tatted Earrings

I would like to thank Tatting Finest http://www.etsy.com/profile.php?user_id=6585253 for providing some tatting inspiration; here is my first attempt at "adopting" someone else's design without a pattern. It is slightly different to the original, which I didn't want to change too much because I think it's just gorgeous. I can't wait to wear these earrings during the Christmas season.

Lace Bobbin

In today's mail I received a gorgeous Catterns Day lace bobbin from Britt at http://stitchety-grub.blogspot.com/. It's such a lovely bobbin; Britt always does a fantastic job decorating the bobbins for our Lace Guild.

Material Dolls

Two cloth dolls I made - the first one is called "Annie". I chose to make her in antique-like fabric and she is wearing pantaloons under her dress.

The other doll is a Giraffe doll (sorry but I can't credit the designer as I forget her name). The giraffe is carrying a bag and if you look carefully you will see she has a baby in her bag. It was quite therapeutic "stamping" the fabric to get the giraffe-like print.

October CAL

Here is October's crochet squares done and completed. Two more months to go, the countdown begins. It's been quite a big commitment for me. The photo is rather dark (it's a cold, dark day today).

Tatted bookmark

Here is a tatted bookmark recently finished. I love the design, thanks to Kersti Anear http://www.kersti.com/. The thread is Raj Mahal's thread and it has a magnificant sheen IRL.

Tatted Celtic Knot Pumpkin

I tatted this pumpkin using thread from 1970s which was just "lying around". In fact, I chose this thread as part of a challenge and then Ruth Perry kindly provided me with the pattern and thought they would be the perfect combination.

Tatted Motifs

Here are two examples of small tatted motifs; the first is a beaded tatted dragon which I completed as part of a tatting challenge, and the other is a very quick motif which I could have made larger by continuing with the rings and chains (but decided against it, only because there are a lot more tatted patterns I want to complete).

Wicked

Completed my WICKED top in the most glorious Noro Garden Silk Lite (wool and silk). It was beautiful to knit and I love the colourway (although it is now discontinued). Whilst I don't intend wearing this top next to skin, I will wear it over a long sleeved t-shirt.

New Tatting Shuttle

Hedre is a stunning handmade Goddess tatting shuttle I received from Noreen http://www.crone-findlay.com/Crone-Findlay-Creations-Tatting.html She is extremely clever, making different types of shuttles including dragons, however the Goddess caught my eye.

Retro Handbag

This is my recently completed retro handbag. I intended to put silver chain as the handle, but couldn't find anything suitable. Once I do find the chain I will substitute the black handle for it.

Felted Hat

I knitted this hat in Bendigo's Rustic wool. It was gigantic until I felted it (intentional) and now it is a lovely firm hat with a brim which can be worn either up or down.

Crochet of the Month - September

Completed this month's crochet-along. Just a few more months and then I will be hard at the assembly of the quilt.

Fruit

Another photo challenge, this time the theme is "Fruit" and for something different I altered the photo to get this interesting effect (reminds me of something Andy Warhol would have painted).

Tranquil

Here is my entry in a photo challenge "Tranquil'. This photo was taken at Werribee Beach; a nice beach to visit but not to swim/

Colour Pencil Art

Dug out my Prismacolors today and did a little more on my Cat colour pencil drawing. All in all, it should have around 30-50 layers by the time of completion (which is a way away). It's a slow process, a WIP (work in progress).

I mainly use watercolour in art as I love the "free" nature of the WC, however for something a little more intense color pencils are the right medium for me.

Felted bag

I participated in the Ravelry She-Knits KAL and here is the finished product - a very thick, felted bag with pockets on the outside (and inside). I love the colours, the wool felted superbly (Rustic from Bendigo Woollen Mills).

Irish Crochet

Finished August's IC motif for the month, I didn't really struggle too much with this one although (as always) there is room for improvement

It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To......

.....To quote Lesley Gore. Anyhow it's a major birthday for me, sorry not telling how big.


I received some beautiful presents but this has to be my favourite. It is a redgum bowl handmade by my very, very talented brother-in-law, Don. (Don previously made both myself and daughter a lace pillow stand (and put a plaque on it).


Back to this bowl, not only did Don make it by hand, he also engraved a lovely birthday message on the underside of the bowl. I just love it so much.

Crochet of the Month - August

Here is August's crochet of the month squares.

Irish Crochet

Here is my disappointing attempt at this month's IC challenge. No more said.

I knitted an "Adipose" toy for my children, whom are besotted by Dr Who.

Adipose were a race of humanoid blobs of fat. Young adipose were hand-sized marshmallow-shaped beings, composed almost entirely of fat. They had two eyes and a mouth and webbed feet/hands.

Stainless steel yarn

I discovered some absolutely gorgeous yarn, mixed with stainless steel by Habu. The SS is almost invisible but it gives body to the yarn, whether you use it for knitting (I am currently making a jacket with this with two different colours - black and a brown) or even lace (I have a white cone for lace). When the knitted garment is complete, you just "scrunch" the garmet into shape.

The yarn is available in wool and stainless steel or silk and stainless steel.

It inspired me to attempt to spin my own - I found a supplier of the steel I just now need the time to experiment.

Fingerless mittens

Here is a set of fingerless mittens I finished making today with gorgeous handspun Angora/Silk/BFL - it is so soft. I slightly altered the pattern by adding crochet to the beginning. OMG, who am I kidding - I have no idea what I was thinking of but I actually forgot the ribbing at the start thus my amendment. Pattern by Ada Troxell.

Crochet of the Month - July

Woo Hoo - I've completed seven months' worth of challenges (i.e. two crochet squares a month). Roll on December when I can finally assemble the quilt/blanket/whatever-it-will-be.

Sock KAL

I am participating in an exciting Safari Sock KAL and received my gorgeous kit today which included a cute stitch marker. I hope I can keep up with the other participants, but I certainly won't be stressing if I'm a little slower, with so many WIPs on the go at the moment I don't seem to be completing much.

New spinning wheel

Couldn't help myself, I purchased another spinning wheel. This is a Wee Peggy (from New Zealand) and it is the cutest little wheel. I just love it, however I haven't had a chance to spin on it yet. I know there won't be a problem because the previous owner looked after it extremely well and most people who have a Wee Peggy admire their wheel.

Crochet beaded bracelet

This is a bracelet I completed yesterday (very quick and easy), using lapis lazuli chips mixed with standard glass beads. I then threaded these beads onto wire and crochet one-two beads per stitch.