Down the Garden Path

Life's been really busy, and there's hardly any time or energy left after work to do anything. I still try to tat a little on and off, but progress is slow. Yesterday, however, I managed to sit down to tat! Although I don't enjoy making small motifs and hiding in ends often, this pattern is delightful. I feel rather cheerful after working on this.

Down the Garden Path by Pamela Palmer in Tatting Treats 3; tatted in a combination of Flora and Lisbeth threads #20.

Ring Issue Resolved

I read on Frivole's post about how her adding of another 2nd ds to a ring before closing it actually helped to give it a better shape, and re-opening a ring was much easier with this additional 'step'. I tried it when tatting this heart that also appears on the same post.

Susan's One Shuttle Heart using Lisbeth #40 Red Burst

I noticed that when I added a 2nd ds to the last stitch before closing the rings, the rings came together neatly, and proved all the advantages that Frivole mentioned. Thank you, Frivole, for sharing this 'technique'.
I promptly tatted another heart, and am totally comfortable with working in another 2nd ds.

Tatted with Flora #20 Pink

Beside these, I have completed Jane Eborall's TIAS 2014 challenge. It's a sailboat! I was a little naughty in telling Jane I didn't believe it's a sailboat just the day before the final reveal, and she panicked. Got'cha there, Jane! TIAS 2014 was fun!

Tatted in Flora #20 Medium Blue and Maroon

Stegosaurus Fun!



The latest F U N items I tatted are a "trisome" of Stegosaurus! I was looking for something interesting to tat, and found Martha Ess' books on block tatting. That same day, I caught a glimpse of Umintsuru's post. She tatted one of these! What a nice coincidence?!

 

 

This is what I found out about the Stegosaurus (source Wikipedia):

Stegosaurus means roofed lizard or covered lizard. These giants lived during the Late Jurassic period (some 500 to 150 million years ago), in western North America, but also in Europe, where remains were later discovered too. They are one of the most easily recognisable due to their distinctive back plates and tail spikes.

Interestingly, although heavily built, standing up to 4 metres tall and 9 metres in length (the size of a bus!), a Stegosaurus eats plants (yes, it's a herbivore!) -- ferns, conifers, fruits, mosses, etc. One lizard could weigh up to 5,000 kilogrammes!

A Stegosaurus had a heavily rounded back, short forelimbs, head held low to the ground and a stiffened tail held high in the air. It has been speculated that the spikes were used during fighting, while the plates were used to defend itself. Comparatively, the dinosaur had a relatively low-brain-to- body-mass ratio. It was thought that the animal was not very smart. In fact, because of the stumpy legs, a Stegosaurus cannot walk very fast -- only up to about 6 to 7 kilometres per hour.

 

I have intentions for these three "creatures", two of which will be bookmarks, and one will be a ... (perhaps a keyring, a pendant, a zipper pull, and the list goes on).

 

The best thing about these tatted gigantic lizards: they don't bite! Not at all!

 

Have a good day!