Tatting Away

So, I have completed my first motif for the 25 Motif Challenge.  Behold:

This is my first motif.  It's actually from a book from Project Gutenberg called Beeton's Book of Needlework.  The Gutenberg Project is an online e-book library of public domain books.  I absolutely love it because in addition to the classics like Shakespeare and Jane Austen, you can find obscure little publications like this.

I was also going to try the clover pattern.  It didn't turn out too well.  For some reason I can't upload the image.  However, it didn't turn out well enough for me to call it a success, I haven't even figured out how to get it to attach to the paperclip.  So, the clover will have to wait until I have a bit more practice.

I've also been working on a scarf from some stash yarn I need to use before I can buy new yarn.  It's surprising how much knitting you can go through during a Dr. Who marathon.  As that develops, I'll try to get pictures up.  It's my own imagination that's creating this project, so we'll just have to see how it goes.

Oops! I done broke it!

I am completely new to the whole tatting thing.  As such, I have very limited knowledge about what one should or should not attempt during the beginner phase.  A little advice, don't start out with size 80 thread!  I was using my grandmother's old supplies, shuttle and thread.  The shuttle works great, however the thread was so delicate that it broke off as I was trying to tighten a ring!  So I've decided to proceed in a more traditional fashion.  I've been reading LOTS of tatting blogs over the past few days and I thought I would start simpler and with bigger thread.  And to keep me going, I thought I would try the 25 Motif Challenge.  In short, I'm going to attempt just over two motifs a month and try to finish 25 of them before next November.  Here we go!

I thought I'd try my first motif fairly simply.  I found a pattern for a four-leaf- clover on Georgia Seitz's Online Tatting Class.  I thought I'd try it because who couldn't use a little extra luck in their lives?  I found a dark green ball of size 20 cotton thread left over from an earlier crocheted project that has been languishing in my stash.  I thought it was time to see if I could use it for my next attempt.  I thought I would try the version of the pattern that has the little four-leaf-clover on a paper clip.  We'll see how it goes!