Christmas 2011 Snowflake #46

One more from Susanne Rolf. This is also from her Mustersammlung book on page 34. I really enjoyed tatting this. It was done in 2 rounds and the small rings are all the same size. I think it is a pretty pattern. In Size 40 threads, I used up 3m per shuttle for round 1; 5m for Shuttle 1 and 3m for Shuttle 2 in round 2.

Peanuts Envelope

This came from Tabatha. She did not know that Snoopy was about the only comic strip I enjoyed growing up. I remember I could not get enough of it in the newspaper, I bought some of the books. I wonder where they are now, the books. Tabatha sent me 3 balls of Lizbeth Size 40 in autumn apple pie, jungle greens and blue river glades. You'll see some tatting in those colours soon. Thank you Tabatha.

Turtle

This little turtle's shell is out of shape. It looks more rounded in the pattern. I think I should have tightened the chains to make it curve more. I added the little tail. This pattern is from Martha Ess in her book 'More Critters on the Block'.

Kueh Bangkit

Grandma use to make this for the Chinese New Year and we were all roped in to help. I remember dusting the wooden moulds with flour before putting the dough in, levelling it off with a knife and knocking them out. Patterns like what you see in the photo are made on the top surface with a comb and they are ready for baking. I have not eaten these for a long time so when we got these from a friend, it was such a treat. Even Umi and Tsuru loved it. It crumbles and melts in your mouth.  It is made with tapioca flour, eggs, sugar and coconut milk. Recipes are available on the web.

Years back, I found this wooden mould in a charity shop. It sits in my kitchen cabinet and I have never used it but it reminds me of the times we spent with grandma making new year goodies. This mould already has elaborate patterns on it so a comb is not necessary. Of course the comb is a new one, used only for baking. 

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #45

This is a pattern from Susanne Rolf on page 38 of her book Mustersammlung. The block tatting seemed too large for the overall motif. What do you think? This is tatted in Size 40 threads using up 3 metres of thread in each shuttle.

Clockwork

At 7am every morning, cats gather on this balcony. 

At 7:05am or thereabouts pigeons gather because a kind soul would throw leftover bread on this grass patch every morning.

So who started this routine, the kind soul or the pigeons, then came the cats who gather to watch. It is amusing yet heart warming.

Martha's Hummingbird

The first and last hummingbird have mistakes in it. I was too distracted watching a movie on TV. Three are tatted in Lizbeth 40 and the yellow one in Perle 8. The hummingbirds in Size 40 are only 1.4 inches and the Perle 8 is about 1.7 inches in length. This pattern is by Martha Ess.

Bleeding Heart Vine

It has flowered many times and sometimes the flower bud really looks anatomically like a heart. My photos do not do it justice. It is called Clerodendrum thomsoniae.

Criss Cross Bookmark #2

This is tatted in Milford Satin Perle No. 5 in Ombre Red. It ended up quite a large bookmark measuring about 8.5 inches in length. It looks very different from the first one I tatted. Good for larger books. The long picots may have been a little too short so it does look bunched up in the centre. I think if you are going to tat this, a more sturdy thread would hold its shape better.

Dream Houses

Whenever we pass this street, I imagine living in one of these houses. These are old townhouses in a prime location which have been refurbished and conserved. In Singapore, living in houses is a luxury. Ninety percent of the population live in apartments.

Grasshopper

When I saw this pattern in the book, the grasshopper looked so realistic, I just had to try it first. The bottom right grasshopper was tatted first in Leafy Greens Lizbeth 40 #138, then the variegated green Anchor Perle Cotton 8 in Col.1215 and last is done in Rootbeer Float Lizbeth 40 #150. I am enjoying Martha's book of 'More Critters on the Block'.

Stained Glass Lamp Stands

I found this shop in Chinatown. All the lamps are from Taiwan. I wondered if they sold just the lamp stands for my future stained glass lamp shades. I have not done stained glass for a long time and my phoenix is waiting to be finished. I wonder when I can get back to it. The cat and lilypad stands caught my eye.

Criss Cross Bookmark

This was really enjoyable to tat. Blocking is needed to get the bookmark in a nice shape. And care must be taken to make sure the very long picots are not twisted before joining. As you can see one of mine is twisted. I used Lizbeth 40 #138 Leafy Greens. This measures about 6 inches in length. I wound about 7m of thread on the shuttle. I am going to try this again in a larger sized thread and see how that looks. The criss cross bookmark pattern is from Martha Ess on page 18 of her 'Playing With Picots' book.

Wire Sculptures

This is the Esplanade Theatres in Singapore

Locally it is also know as the Durian because it resembles the fruit

The last time I was there, on display in the foyer were wire sculptures

There were others but they were quite difficult to photograph. Hope you enjoyed these.

Slalom Bookmark

Slalom is a pattern from Martha Ess on page 12 of the 'Playing With Picots' book. It looked very unusual so I had to try it. It looks abstract. This measures about 5 inches with 12 repeats. I used 4m (per shuttle) of Lizbeth Size 40 threads in #633 Purple Dark and #162 Purple Iris Fusion. I wonder how it will look in one colour.

Mirror, Mirror Bookmark #3

Now this one I did with Size 20 threads in #132 Tropical Punch and # 620 Azalea Medium. Since it was a Size 20 thread, I kept the picots larger like the first one. The bookmark measures about 6 inches without the tail. Used up 5m of threads on each shuttle for 10 repeats.

Elevens

I scheduled this post for no other reason but for the fun of it. It is 11/11/11 at 11:11am in Singapore. Do I have photos of eleven seals. Did you count?

I found this beautiful to the eye and knowing all were hand carved, made it even more special. Margaret and Fox, I hope you enjoyed these photos. All these seals are exhibited at the Shanghai Museum.

Happy Bookmark

Another pattern by Martha Ess. I used Lizbeth 40 #136 Autumn Spice and #138 Leafy Greens. I made 10 repeats using 3m on each shuttle. Row 1 was quite fiddly as the thin threads were turning and swirling so when you add Row 2, you have to be careful when you join to the picots making sure that it is not twisted. Perhaps using Size 20 threads will not be so cumbersome. It looks very unusual and quite pretty. It measures about 4.5 inches excluding the tail.

Jade Carvings

Flower Bowl

Hair Ornament

Container with Lid

Lotus Pod Vase 

A belt buckle