Oh so bad!

I knew I lost a worker somewhere and I knew the last diamond was "off", but I really didn't know it was this bad until I took it off the pillow.

The pricking looks odd to me but there is nothing wrong with it. I got the top part right. The right side of the diamond in each section is hard for me to follow. I thought I had it figured out and even reworked a few spots but obviously it is not right!

I got some more of the square bobbins that I like so well. This pattern called for 16 pairs which is more than what I had of the square ones and I went with some others that I had plenty of but they are big and clunky feeling in my hands. When I remake this one, I will use the square bobbins since I have 2 dozen more pairs now.


I also bought some new divider pins at Richard's Bobbins on Etsy. That lovely piece of drawnwork under the pins is his, not mine. The photo is from his Etsy shop. I got a freebie pin too, which isn't shown here but it's like the second one, only pink.

Only one more pattern after this one in the book and then I will do some practice pieces from other books that focus on footsides and gimp and such. I'm still a long way from feeling comfortable about what I'm doing.

I uploaded the photos and then went away!

This was from an order I placed on Etsy. It inspired lots of ideas and they're tucked away for just the right moment.

Here's some vintage thread I bought at an antique store. It's brittle so I won't be using it. It was only $1.49 for the package and it included these labels which I found intriguing.

The labels were all rolled up and this is the backside. One is from DMC and the other is J & P Coates. Both apparently advertised their patterns in the label but you still had to buy the patterns.

Here's are identifying side of the labels for the thread. These companies have been around for a long time!

This was in another bag and the outer label, which the cashier took off to add up the price and list the booth, said it was handmade lace. I'm still trying to figure out if it really is. I suspect there is nylon in it but I'm afraid to pick at it too much as it's fragile. I do like the design though so if I can translate it into something else in lace, I will. If it is handmade, it's some kind of needlelace.

I think I'm good with this style/pattern. Last night I worked it at Sally's house and it had been exactly a week since I last worked with bobbin lace. I didn't have any problem at all. I refreshed my memory a few times starting and I had to back out of a few stitches that I got off track on by talking at the same time, but it went well.

I think the next one is about the same but with diamonds. There are only 2 more in this bookmark series. The book has other projects, larger and in fine yarn but I'm not interested in doing those yet.

After the bookmarks, I will follow some lessons posted online that have to do with various grounds, starting points, footsides - details, in other words. I want to work on those now before I get into a different project although there is a heart I might do. I also didn't see a fan bookmark in this series and I want to practice that so I can do the one I had a class on properly.

I'm out of town today but mostly riding in a car with a couple of other employees. Too bad I can't lace on the way. I've tried tatting, but there is a lot of conversation and I don't generally get much done.

Last night I laced another Torchon Spider bookmark and this one was much easier. I will still make at least one more, maybe two, to get comfortable with the process. I'm understanding why there was only one twist above the spider body and two twists below. I know which direction to do the Torchon in although I do still have to stop and think and occasionally back out of a spot.

There is a tiny little loop in the center of the spider body where I pin between the two halves. I made sure I tensioned to get the legs more even and I wonder if it didn't force a loop upwards somehow? I do think the leg length and spacing is better in this one.

I also tried gathering each side of the tails into one knot after I had knotted each pair. I don't really like it so I'll probably experiment with the next one too. I might try to finish it off like I did the original Torchon bookmark where it ends up as a tassel in the center.

I had this in draft earlier so put it here. I like these Irish Crochet roses and have plans for them but I will be teaching some Irish Crochet classes later in the year and am preparing a bit now, testing some patterns.

I finally finished the Torchon Spider bookmark! I undid it twice and the last time I even had to completely rewind the bobbins as I had manipulated them so much they were all different lengths.

I was confused by the directions in the last bookmark. It says to always work from an angle and I just assumed it was the same angle but in this one, while you do work at an angle, it's from the sides to the center. I had no problem with the spiders, just the outlining and torchon part.

I started it last night and figured out what some of my prior problems were. Then at Sally's tonight, I picked up where I left off and for some reason, it was easier to see where my mistakes were and how to correct them. I'm really pleased with the way it ended up though I will be making a few more to get the finer points in my head.

I can see where I need to work on tension too but now that I understand the transition from one place to another, I think that will sort itself out too.

Happy Happy Dance here!

Lace baskets have been appealing to me lately. I've tatted some and then had an exchange with someone who crochets. You can see the results of that here.

I finished up a tatting project today and part of it involved a small crocheted blossom. That inspired me to crochet more but as I looked for some patterns, I saw a basket in an Annie's Attic leaflet for one of their famous dolls. I decided to try it out.

I crocheted it in a smaller thread and with a smaller hook so it did turn out smaller than the one done in size 10 thread. I used a Venus thread, size 40 and a size 10 steel hook. In all the 40+ years that I crocheted, I never used beads until now.

Hmmm...there was a tooth fairy doll that was quite elegant that I made for my granddaughter and I know beads were involved somewhere but I don't remember where or how. Maybe it was only on the tooth fairy bag and perhaps I sewed them on after the crochet was done. With this basket however, I loaded the beads onto the thread before I started crocheting. It was really quite easy. I'm not sure I like the way the handle was treated. I think the beads would look better either in the center of handle or on both sides of the center.

I added the thimble for scale. You can see it's quite tiny. What will I do with it? I have no idea! I just like miniatures. I could make some in red or white and put a single Hershey Kiss in each one for gifts. The bottom might be too small in diameter even for that! At any rate, it was a fun exercise. I'll have to look for a bobbin lace basket pattern now.

Here is another one just like the other one! I gave the other one away so remade this for my sample book. I didn't reread the instructions for ending and did it wrong so I had to undo it and do it over. Guess that keeps me humble.

I'm ready to do the next one which is basically the same except it will have "spiders" where center diamonds are. I intend to keep this up until I can read the simple patterns without having to refer to something all the time. Today we have a snow recess so no work. I'm not sure I'll get to the next bookmark but I hope so.