Christmas came early this year!

I'm sure many you know about the fabulous give-away at Yarnplayer's blog a while ago, which I won! With so many entries (well over a hundred!) I never expected to win, because my luck abandoned me several years ago. When I was little I always won something at lotteries, but not anymore... Well, I certainly won't complain again! :)

I was barely awake this morning when the doorbell rang, so I didn't bother to get up. My mother-in-law answered the door, and shortly after my boyfriend came in carrying a big box. That got me up in a hurry! I sat on the bed and unpacked all the things and squeaked like a child at Christmas! I've been doing the happy dance all week since last Friday :)

Here's what was in the package:

Marilee's latest book Up and Tat 'Em. I've been drooling over this for a long time and can't wait to try the patterns in it, especially the Atom pendant. Ooh, and the book is signed, too! I love it when my craft books are signed, it makes them extra special :)

A toy dump truck! I'm giving it away to a couple who are expecting a baby boy in March, even though he probably won't play with it for a while yet :)

Thread! Lots and lots :) Ten 50 yard skeins of her hand dyed thread: "Bluegreen Pastel"(40 yard skein) size 10, "Corsage" sizes 10 & 20, "Pizazz" size 20, "Summer Trail" sizes 20 & 80 (eek!), "Nectarine" size 30, "Peace" size 20 + corresponding solids in Light Pink and Light Yellow. A most awsome collection of colors! :)

Two new Clover shuttles and two steel crochet hooks, sizes 0.4mm and 1mm (12). The largest hook will be part of a Christmas present for someone who wants to learn tatting. I won't mention any names, in case people should read this blog by accident :)

And she even sent a Christmas card! With camels! My favorite animals in the world (after hedgehogs, of course!) :) Thank you so much for this wonderful gift, Marilee, I love it!

Now I only need to find something to tat with all this lovely thread! It has to be something special. What can you make with 50 yards of size 20 thread? Does the thread last longer in the smaller sizes? I'd hate to start something that I couldn't finish... Any suggestions? :)

Some shiny new things, a tatted heart and a contest

The other day I got my first Tatsy shuttles. I ordered them from Snowgoose. I have seen on InTatters that some people have had some trouble with this store, but apart from one small issue, I had no problems with the man. The issue was that the store has listed this shuttle, which I really really wanted (and it was the main reason why I made the order in the first place), but I got an e-mail saying they are no longer available. Boo hoo :( Does anyone know where to get one or two of these? 

(Picture borrowed from the site) 

I've seen them around on people's blogs and wanted one for a long time...

Anyway, along with the unavailable Inox I ordered some Tatsys (Tatsies?) because I decided it was time I tried them out. I opened my package (a really cute little box that was just barely big enough), and my mouth just fell open... I have seen the size of these things on pictures, but when I held one in my hand I could only laugh! 

Seriously, how can anyone tat with these monsters? I think perhaps they can be good for tatting with rope or something :p Though I must admit, I bought them because I figured they would be good to use as ball shuttles, especially when the pattern requires the use of two shuttles only for small portions.

Also in the package was this little plain shuttle:

I had this in my shopping cart at one point, but I was so sure I had changed my mind and removed it before placing the order. Apparently I didn't :p On the site it's named "Perlac", but I think I've seen it labeled as something else on other sites. Who knows? Many different producers make the same shuttles in different countries, so...

And I've finished tatting something! A heart from Mary Konior's Tatting with Visual Patterns:

It has taken me a long time to do this, because I found it a bit confusing and frustrating. Why can't she put in the pattern when you need two shuttles? I started this when I was waiting at the doctor's office, and I only had one shuttle with me, so I had to do the shoelace thing to change directions of the chains, which made the chains all wonky and twisty :/ It just will not lay flat... The thread is Puppets Eldorado, size 20-ish in dark red.

Finally I have started a new project (surprise!). There is a contest on IsDihara's blog, where you are to decorate a chocolate box with tatting. The prize is 25 balls of Lizbeth of your own choice from Handy Hands, and the shipping is free! That is just too good to pass up, so I've decided to give it a go. I have found a suitable box and covered it with decoupage, now I just need to figure out what to tat. More about my entry later... By the way, HERE is the original post about the contest. Good luck, if you should choose to enter :)

Get well shopping #2 :)

In case you're wondering why I've been so quiet lately (both here, on InTatters and The Tatting Forums) and not answering to all your lovely comments, it's because I haven't been feeling very well the last couple of weeks. I won't bore you with the long story (you can read about it on my other blog if you want), so I'll just say that I've been having problems with a very painful infection that has been very hard to kill. Things are looking up now, though, and I should be back to tatting soon :)

When I can't do anything useful (like homework and housework), I usually sit in my rocking chair wrapped in a big blanket with my laptop and surf the web until I've looked at the same sites a million times. And since I've been out of it pretty much constantly lately, I've spent a lot of time online looking for new shiny things. I've got a lot of packages in the mail last week and I thought I'd show you some of it :)

Today I got two packages from Roseground. Here are the contents of the first one:

Five balls of Lizbeth 20 :) The colors (from left to right) are #105 Confetti, #114 Sea Shell, #120 Denim Whisper, #133 Razzle Dazzle and #138 Leafy Greens. This is what was in the second package:

Two balls of Lizbeth 20 (that should have been 40!) in #140 Country Grape Swirl and #152 Christmas Green Mix, a set of mini crochet hooks, and a free sample of Lizbeth 40. Not sure about the color, but I think it might be #123 Grape Pizzaz. Another surprise was an extra crochet hook! The three original hooks in the set are size 6, 10 and 12. I have no idea if the sizes are British or American, but they look like they are 1.5mm, 1mm and 0.75mm respectively. The bonus hook (the one with the plastic cover) is 0.5mm. So tiny - now I can make my picots as small as I want :)

Now, this package has a long story to it... I actually made this order early in September (it was shipped on the 13th), but Roseground printed out the wrong address label and the package was sent to my mother's address (that's where I stayed when I made my first order from Roseground this summer). I suspected this had happened when the package didn't show up after about ten days, because my last order had been sent to my mother's a couple of weeks earlier. This was not really a problem, as it doesn't cost that much for my mother to forward my mail. However, I had just officially changed my address to the one I'm staying at most of the year, and it turned out that my package had probably arrived at the post office at my mother's place, where it had been forwarded to my current address. The problem was that some moron (or bad scanner, I don't know) couldn't read the address right, and it was finally returned to Roseground marked with "incomplete address". I can clearly see that it has the correct zip code! Sigh. Anyway, Roseground have been nothing but professional and helpful the whole time, and they now have my address right :) BUT, then there was another problem, when the threads I'd ordered came in the wrong size... I didn't really want to bother them again since it been so much back and forth with this package already (don't want to be the grumpy customer that's never satisfied), but friendly Twitterers advised me to let them know, so I've sent an e-mail. We'll see what happens...

Yesterday I got a package from Lacis :) This turned out be a bit silly, since the only reason I made the order was to get one of those really tiny crochet hooks (0.4mm) because the ones in the set from Roseground would be a bit bigger, and I hadn't expected the bonus hook... Oh, well, at least I got three new colors of the Lacis shuttles :) From top to bottom the colors are Oyster, Silver and Green:

 

Some more threads I got a while ago:

Two balls of Lizbeth 20 in #695 Bright Orange and #130 Island Breeze. You might understand from the orange that I plan to make pumpkins for Halloween? :)

Lizbeth 40 in #100 Falling Leaves, #604 Black, #115 Springtime and #147 Red Burst.

And a set of tatting needles in sizes 3, 5, 7 and a free bonus needle size 8:

I've also done some book shopping lately :) The first to arrive was this treasure:

A Pattern Book of Tatting by Mary Konior. It was fairly expensive (though not really by Norwegian standards - it's just my budget that can't allow it), so I asked my grandmother  if she would want to give me this as an early Christmas present, and she agreed :) I bought the book used on Amazon, and it came with a little surprise inside! 

I'm guessing the previous owner (possibly "Jean Mortimer"?) tatted this and forgot she put it in there before selling the book. The pattern is "Wild Rose", the last pattern in the book. Also I finally got Rozella Linden's Celtic Tatting Knots and Patterns and Tatted Animals by Inga Madsen:

All three of these books have so many things I want to make, I don't know when I'll ever find the time! Now I just have to take my medicine and get well, and hopefully I'll have more tatting to show soon :)

Oops! Just realized that this has become a really long post! But it has lots of pictures, and you all like to look at pretty pictures - right? *grin*

Get well shopping :)

I haven't been feeling too well lately. About three weeks ago I had the flu, or possibly just a common cold but with some flu-like symptoms. I got better, but then I had the almost tendonitis in my wrists from crocheting too much, and I felt a bit unwell again. I went to the doctor a few days later to see if there was anything to do about it, and while I was waiting at the doctor's office my mother-in-law called my boyfriend, and she freaked out a bit when she heard where I was, all worried and stuff. But when I later told her it was nothing serious she was very relieved and sent some money for me to go out and treat myself to something nice. The choice was very easy. Can you guess? *tamtamtam* Thread! 

A ball of Idena Dixi and four balls of Coats Puppets (or is it Eldorado? I've never seen this thread before). They are all somewhere between size 10 and 20, and I hope I can combine them with Lizbeth 20 :) I also got these lovely buttons:

I asked if the store had any of the plastic tubes they keep their buttons in, and I got a whole bunch of them! Thought perhaps I'd get one of the really thin ones to keep tatting needles in (yes, I have ordered some!), but this time they only had the fat ones. I can use them to sort out my button collection, but the biggest one is even large enough to keep shuttles in! I got them for free since the store just throws them away when they're empty :)

My mother wanted me to pop by a fairly expensive craft store I rarely visit to check out the quality of some yarn for her knitting. While I was in there I looked around for tatting stuff, and tada! I found these two shuttles:

Unfortunately none of the ladies at the store could tell me the brand of the shuttles :( The plain blue one has GERMANY printed on it, at exactly the same place as another shuttle I got on eBay, which was bought used and came in the package saying it was an Aero. 

When I saw the bobbin shuttle I just had to get it, because it's pretty and purple! It has the exact same shape as the normal Aero, but it has no print. But the best part is the bobbin, which is also purple! 

I don't think I'll ever get tired of collecting stuff in different colors! I'm still not feeling 100%, so I'm mostly staying at home to read biology and relax as much as possible. And of course I tat a lot :D

Tatting to go

I went by the book store to get a new notebook today, and look what else I found! (Sorry about the quality of the pictures - I just used my poor old phone bacause I don't transfer pics from my camera unless I have at least 30 photos to upload, and I just emptied it yesterday...)

A pretty ordinary pencil case, you may think, made of black nylon canvas and (fake?) brown leather. But wait... These are not pencils!

Just look at all the stuff I can get in it!

Three balls of Lizbeth, a bigger ball of some other thread, and eleven shuttles of various shapes and sizes :) Now I can bring my tatting around easily, including WiPs that are attached to a ball, and I don't have to worry too much about squashing or breaking anything. I chose this because of the shape (wider at the bottom) and the fabric, plus it will be even sturdier if I don't remove the piece of cardboard that came with it. Now I am one happy tatter and ready to tat anywhere :)

I bought this for two reasons: one, I have seen some pretty tatting bags out there, and I've wanted one for a good while but can't really afford one; two, my precious tatting box is showing some signs of wear and tear on the lid, and I don't want to ruin it, so I've decided to leave it at home. Unless of course I'm going on a longer holiday - then I would have to bring my entire stash! Here's my dear tatting box, in case you haven't seen it before:

I love that little goblin so much, he's such a cutie :)

Shuttles!

Got new shuttles today :) A steel Boye with four extra bobbins and a red/pink ("rose") Lacis plastic shuttle with point:

I ordered them from Lacis just last week (the 14th), and they are here already! Super fast shipping from US to Norway, we like :D And the shipping cost wasn't bad either. I e-mailed them before ordering and asked what the shipping would be, and I was told $11 or $12, but I've only been charged $4.50 or something :)

The Lacis shuttle is exactly the same length as a pointed Sew Mate, but the post is shorter, and (for some crazy reason) it's completely circular and is almost as wide as the shuttle itself. This means it won't hold nearly as much thread as a Sew Mate. *grumble* Plus it will need some cleaning and sanding if I want to get the thread through the little hole in the post. 

Hm. Another shuttle for my collection, I guess... These shuttles come in eight different colors, and that would probably be the main reason for me to collect the rest. Some day...

The Boye looks nice, though the hook on the front seems pretty useless... It's not even a hook, it's more like a bump on the side of a pin that's hammered flat. I suppose it works well enough for joining when the picots are big enough :p Don't know if you can see what I mean...

I know that some people don't like to use them because the thread can get caught between the shuttle and the bobbin, which can leave unremovable stains on the thread. I'll keep that in mind and use it only for darker colors just in case :)

I will have to test my new pretties later - now it's time to do some homework!

Me - a tatter!

I'm still just a beginner, but I'm proud to call myself a tatter. Shuttle tatter, actually :) 

In case you're interested, and haven't heard it before, here's the short version of how it all started:

One day towards the end of July I found an old tatting shuttle in my grandmother's stash, and I knew my mother knew how to tat, so I had her teach me. The shuttle has belonged to my great grandmother, and I'm very happy to be allowed to keep it and proud to be able to use it :)

Like many other things in my life, tatting soon became an obsession. I love collecting stuff, and shuttles became natural collector's items. I like the shape of them, and they come in so many pretty colors - I need to have them all! Judging by my shuttle collection and the many tatting books I've aquired you'd think I've been tatting for years and not two months :p And I don't think I'll ever have enough pattern books, even with the amount of free patterns you can find online. There's just something special about books... I need to have my own library when I grow up!

Anyway, the first evening when my mother tried to teach me I couldn't do it. You know, flipping the stitches, it just didn't make sense. In the end I just threw the whole thing away in frustration and continued crocheting instead. The next day I was tatting all by myself! I guess it helps to sleep on things :) (That's literally what I did! All summer I slept on a double sofa-bed, and the half not occupied by me was constantly covered with all my craft stuff...)

Here's the first item I made:

The pattern is Flower Bookmark by Yarnplayer. You can see that I didn't use a picot gauge... Later I made the bookmark again, but I added  big black beads instead of making the dreaded picots:

The thread is Mölnlycke Virkgarn in pink, size 20.