Tea Totes

The tea totes began as a bag of pearl cotton gifted for tatting.  I used over 20 balls for tatting kits and there were still plenty left.  I was looking for a small project and found these tea totes on Ravelry. 

I didn't use the Ravelry pattern, rather with the idea and inspiration I made up my own design.

This  single crochet project uses about 15 grams of  2 ply pearl cotton. The average size is 3 by 3 inches.   I had  been gifted a package of floral wooden buttons.  I think I was supposed to tat with them but they ended up being closures for the Tea Totes.  

These little totes work well when you use a small clutch or just slip into your pocket. Not only a sachet of tea fits nicely but here are a few other things to put in your tea tote:

• 
  small tatting project with shuttles
• pills/ medication
• contact lens
• dental floss and picks
• lotion
• lipstick/gloss
• tissue/hanky
• breath mints/candy
• needle case/sewing kit
• sweeteners/condiments
• credit card
• small spray cologne
• Eyeglass cloth
• Band-Aids
• hair clips
• ear buds
• jewelry for travel
• feminine products
• condoms

Butterflies

These are butterflies I made for the Spring Fling happening in May with my guild CGNFA. Although I won't be attending this year, I made up some butterflies to adorn the tables and bags. 

I used a variety of threads from my stash, mostly cottons.  I used this pattern from Crochet 365.  

Now you may ask why I didn't tat them, and its a matter of time. I can crochet faster than tatting but I'm hoping to change that.  

Three Tatters

It took three tatters to make this project bag, Amy created the bag and gifted to me, Irene created the zipper fob and gifted to me. Finally I created the tatted edge. 

I love how my scissors cannot penetrate the bag and the zipper fob makes it easy to open and close. The batik fabric is different on each side and the variegated  thread worked out well on them both. 

Happy Tatting, keep creative.  Oh and thanks again Amy and Irene.

Happy Easter

 

This is a free pattern by Jennifer Williams and turned into a 3D bunny by L. Maria. I liked the idea so much I had to try it.  Have a wonderful Easter Weekend !

Pie Day or 𝝅 day

 Today is 𝝅 day and I made these savory russian hand pies.  They didn't look too pretty but boy were they tasty. Even my husband said they tasted good. Baba called the piroshki.

I used a filling of ground beef, onions and garlic, caramelizing the onions before mixing them in with some paprika, salt and pepper. I have put those upper ones in the freezer and the lower ones had asiago cheese added and then warmed up in the microwave.  Happy Pie Day.

New pattern, new thread , new shuttle

I decided to try a new pattern. It is called Spiral Heart Duo by Debbie Arnold. Her pattern is available in her Etsy shop DebbieArnoldDesigns.

Beware of a few tricky joins in this pattern. The larger heart on left measures just over 3 inches and the smaller on the right measures over 2 inches. 

So I began to search my stash for a suitable thread. I chose a thread I had purchased last summer from A Twisted Picot (formerly BlackSheep Fiber Emporium) It is an Anchor Mercer Crochet 100% cotton size 20 made in Hungary. A smooth thread with just enough stiffness to make it excellent for tatting. It holds a stitch nicely and required very little blocking. It is color 48 a soft pink and a 50 gram ball. 

The shuttle below is also from Hungary and available on Etsy from Banyek. I saw a social media post where someone had tried them and decided that they were not for them so posted for sale. 

I purchased the shuttle and found it easy to wind and tat with. The shuttle has mother of pearl inlay on both sides and is very light. The hook came in handy but it is so small that it sometimes split the ply. I would recommend it for finer threads like size 40 to 80. Of course these are the thread sizes I prefer.  

This was a fun little project and a great distraction, now back to my unfinished projects. 

Tree Earrings and Tat it and See

 

These were made for an exchange with one of my guilds.  I always make extras so a few can be given away.

The pattern is from Gloria Nelson of Sparkling Light Studios. 

Don't forget to wind a few shuttles for the Tat it and See, here is a link to the introduction and another link to the blog.