What I do when I have a lot of tension and stress?  Tat, of course!  I haven't feel well during the week but I tat like a mad woman!  lol

This motif is just something I tat without following any patterns.  The thread is white and has green seed beads.













This one is from Jane Eborall.  The pattern is here.  It uses a cabone (plastic ring) on the center but I don't have those.  I got from Al Ahzar the other days packages of this big sequin with the big hole in the center and I thought to use them instead of plastic rings.  The results are great.  The only thing is that the big hole is not centered, but that doesn't affect the design.  I change the pattern a little.  The threads are white and baby pink.  It has milky white beads and pink beads.  The center sequin is pearly white.






This little cutie is from Tatskool (Pamela Myers).  Again using the big sequin.  This one is a very light green.  But looks great with the white thread and the green beads.  The pattern can be found here.















It was so much fun that I made the more simplified version.  I forgot to add the bead over the ring on these ones.  The top one is white and pink threads and beads with a white sequin.  The ones at the bottom are green and white threads with red and green beads and one has a green sequin and the other is red.

All the color threads are cotton perle #8 El Beida (Egyptian) and the white thead is the last of the Miquita (Peru) in white.  I hope I can get more of it when I go to PR because is my favorite thread!

I'm still stressed so I'm going to tat some more.    I have been crocheting a black doily but yesterday I had to frog several times 3 rounds and now the doily is tossed into the corner until I get my head clear and can follow the instructions of the pattern.

For the last 5 years I have been posting a pattern on my BD.  This is like a thanks you to all my tatting friends who put with my frantic design boosts and strange ideas and challenges.    This year pattern is the Taina Flower and Snowflake.  Hope you all enjoy it!  It's also attached as a PDF for easier printing.

   





















Taina Flower & Snowflake
©2008 Wally Sosa


Materials:
1 Shuttle (Round 1-2)
2 Shuttles (Round 3)

Instructions:


Round 1: (1 Shuttle)
R: 6 ± 3 - 3 - 6.

Repeat until 6 petals are made.  Remember to join petal 6 to the first one.

Cut.














Round 2: (1 Shuttle)
Join to middle picot on ring.
R: 5 ± 3 - 5.  Join to the same picot and to the picot between the rings.
R: 6 + 6 (- 6) x 5.  Join to the same picot and to the next picot.

Repeat from beginning around, until 6 big rings and 6 small rings are made.  Remember to join the last big ring to the first small ring.

Cut.






Round 3: (2 Shuttles)
R:  6 - 3 ± 3 - 3 - 3 - 6.
*  Ch: 5.
R: 6 + (to the last picot of previous ring) 3 - 3 - 3 - 6.
R: 6 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 6.
Ch: 5.
SCMR: 6 + (to the last picot of previous ring) 3 - 3 [R: 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 3] 3 + (to the last picot of ring) 3 - 6.
CH: 6 + (to 3rd free picot of big ring) 8.
TOR: 3 + (to last picot of same ring) 6 + (to 1st picot of next big ring) 3.
CH: 8 + (to next picot on big ring) 6.
R: 6 - 3 + (to 1st free picot in small ring on SCMR) 3 + (to same ring) 3 - 3 - 6.

Repeat from * around.

Cut.

I feel like Lilo from Lilo and Stitch.  Looking for names for the experiments!  lol  This is another motif that I just made.  It's call temporarily Snowflake 967d d.  The threads are El Beida in Pink and Miquita in Cream.  It measures a tad over 2 1/2 inches.  It's made in 2 rounds.  The 1st round has the small center rings with chains and the big SCMR.  The 2nd round is more of a decorative chain to put like a frame around.

There are just a few decorative picots and I'm thinking that I'll change them into beaded picots and add a few more.

So, will you help me to name this one too?  The other one I need to name is the flower I made for the 25 Motifs Challenge.

I was playing with colors and I think the snowflake looks good also done in 2 colors.  The colors give a different appearance.  I really like the design.  I need to contact one of my proof-tatters to see if the pattern is correct and then publish it.  I think this will be my BD motif this year.

Yay!  It's done!  I'm still hitting myself why I didn't added the between ring from the beginning.  *sigh*  But at least now is done and I think that the ds counting works fine.  Now I'll write the pattern.  So now from a flower it became a snowflake. 

I'm already starting in another design.  Also I have to make a new "schedule" to use my time better because I'm spending way too much time on the 'puter.  I want to publish my new books and I have to start from zero because all of them got lost in the last reformatting of the HDs due to a virus.  But I have all the patterns and diagrams on my notebook.  It's just that is SO BORING to write again everything and make new diagrams on the 'puter.  At least I want everything ready for when I travel back to PR.  I want to see if it's easier for me to sell my books from there.  From here is difficult because of the shipping and the postal service is crappy.  That is IF people want to buy my books.  The 1st one was a hit, selling over 100 copies but the last 4 books just flunked.  May be I'm not that good... 

Okay, back to my tatting!

Shuttles were calling me.  They were angry because I have been spending too much time on the digital world.  So I got them and after soothing them with a lullaby I made this itty snowflake.  Well, it's not a snowflake because I made a mistake and made 5 points instead of 6.  But it's pretty none the less.  The pattern is from Julie Patterson and was shared with the Online Class.  I'm attaching the PDF here.  The thread is Miquita in light ecru, but I think the thread is a bit old and have lost the luster of the mercerized thread and worked too fuzzy.     The motif is around 1 1/2", so yes, it's a itty bitty tatting.  So may be if I make it in #80 it will be perfect for earrings.  She also made a variation of the pattern to put a bell in the center and looks like a suncatcher.  The pattern is also attached here.

Well, last year I ended it miserable because of the burnt hand but now I feel much better, the hand is not hurting and last night (I mean this morning) I finished the doily.  Well it has another round but I find that I like it this way.

It measures 12 inches in diameter.  I haven't iron it so it looks a little ruffled, but it lays perfectly flat.  The colors don't look as bad now that is finished.  The blue is Miquita and the yellow is DMC Petra.  It's an interesting combination of materials because Petra is a cotton perle and Miquita is a mercerized thread.  Both threads have their own texture.  I prefer the Miquita over the Petra but unfortunately that's a thread that is not easily found as Petra.  Also the price is different.  Miquita comes in balls of 50 grams for almost $5 and the Petra comes in 100 grams balls for $3.  You do the math!

I had plenty of thread on the shuttles and made a few small motifs. 


Here is a small bookmark using the Miquita in white and blue.
















Here is another small motif using the same threads.












This is the center motif of the next doily I'll make.  It's a square doily with a very interesting design.  But this time I'll use one color: ecru. 

All this was made like in 2 hrs this morning (around 3 am, sleepless night again!) while watching TV and listening to hubby's snores.  lol

All of these are now comfy in the Tatting Box, taking a nap.  I think I'll do the same now.  But before I'll sketch some ideas for tatting that I have been having in the last 3 days.  Looks like 2008 will be a good year for tatting!

I haven't tat in a few days and I was looking for something to do when I received an e-mail from Susan Taliaferro announcing her new pattern Katrina Snowflake.  This gorgeous snowflake is pretty easy to make.  I made a "boo-boo" in one of the big clovers; instead of a triple picot I made a double.    Anyway, I love it!

I used Miquita Thread (near a size #20) in a periwinkle blue that I love but because of the lighting the color shows almost white.  Let see if in the morning I can get a better photo.