Thursday 31 March 2016

TV Watching Tsuru



Sometimes I catch Tsuru watching TV intently.
What caught her eye? 




Peter Burke of White Collar.



Wednesday 30 March 2016

Camel 2



I added extra rings to make this camel taller than the last. But it looks more substantial in the earlier Perle cotton than in Lizbeth size 20 here. See the camel in an earlier post for pattern details. I do prefer the first camel.





Tuesday 29 March 2016

White Ixora


When we were kids, my sister and I played a lot in the garden. Catching butterflies, grasshoppers and dragonflies, climbing trees, playing hopscotch, bicycling round and round our car porch, collecting red saga seeds, played 5 stones, floating paper boats in the small drain when it rains, watching tadpoles in puddles etc. 

We also picked ixora flowers and licked the nectar off the style. Seems strange, thinking of it now.


Monday 28 March 2016

Morgan Mouse



This mouse pattern is by Wanda Salmans and it was Margaret who suggested this when I asked for ideas on which animal to tat next.

The pink mouse is the original pattern by Wanda tatted in Lizbeth Size  Shell pink medium Col. 627. I added two Josephine rings for the eyes and instead of a 8 point metal finding in the centre of the body, I tatted an 8-ring rosette.

In the light grey one, I added stitches to make the mouse larger in size. Tatted in Daruma Lace Size 30 threads.

Thank you Wanda for the pattern and Margaret for pointing it to me.

Friday 25 March 2016

Camel


This camel pattern is by Dolly Hollander and can be found here.  I found it via Tatskool's post.  The round carpet covers its hump and I chose red and variegated blue Perle cotton threads for it. 

I found it easier to follow Tatskool's tatted camel for reference. There seems to be an extra ring in my camel's jaw. I must have read the pattern wrong.


Thursday 24 March 2016

Fire Ants




This is the local version of our fire ants.
Do stay away from them as their bite stings and leave pustules on your skin.
They love to make nests in trees. 
They wrap several leaves together especially in rambutan trees.
I took this photo because I found it strange as they were carrying another ant.
Then, I read online that they are necrophoric. 
They need to get rid of their dead from the nest.

Wednesday 23 March 2016

Dolphins



Jane Eborall's dolphin pattern is a quick but challenging tat. Yes, it involves a split chain tatted to a paper clip, then tat the top fin and join to the paper clip anchor. Even though it is a small dolphin it was a very satisfying tat. You must try it and tell me if you thought the tail part was ingenious. Jane, how do you come up with it? Love the subtle hump of the head too. You can avoid the second split chain by tatting the last chain joining the rings, then do the bottom fin.

Tatted four dolphins in different sized threads. From top: Lizbeth size 20, Altin Basak Size 50, Manuela Size 10 and Daruma Lace Size 30.

Tuesday 22 March 2016

Peach Ixora



Another Ixora in a peach colour.
It was a hedge planted by a carpark.

Monday 21 March 2016

Paprika the Dragon



Thank you for your suggestions of animal patterns. This was suggested by Eliz Davis. This dragon pattern is from Martha Ess.

I used the Daruma Lace Size 30 threads. These dragons are about 4 inches in length. The red baby dragon is a little hunched back because, as usual I misread the pattern. 


Friday 18 March 2016

Stawasz Motif



Taking a little break before I continue with more animals. This is tatted in Lizbeth Size 20 Col. 131 Vineyard Harvest. The pattern is from Jan Stawasz table runner 1 on page 67 of 'Tatting Theory and Patterns'. I will not tat the whole pattern but use this on one of my coasters.

Thursday 17 March 2016

My Tsuru




She looks calm but not entirely happy having her photo taken. At least she is looking into the camera. I do like this photo.

Wednesday 16 March 2016

Goose 2



Goose 2 looks a little strange. The beak should turn upwards but I started the beak on the lower picot and it ended up like this. I used a Japanese Daruma Lace thread in Size 30 but it is larger than the earlier one done in Milford Size 20.

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Yellow Ixora




Ixoras do well in our hot and wet weather. With a little fertiliser, it blooms quite readily and it comes in many colours too.

This is from my sister's garden. Mom has been pruning and fertilising it whenever she visits. 


Monday 14 March 2016

Goose



This goose looks so real. A lovely pattern from Jane Eborall's pattern site. My tatting is not perfect as there seems to be mistakes. I did not print out the pattern and was reading it off my phone. That was not a good idea. 

I am running out of animal patterns to tat for the patchwork blocks for the blankets. Has anyone got any suggestions? The boys love dinosaurs but I could not find a pattern that was simple and small. 

Friday 11 March 2016

Crocodiles



This is a pattern from Dianna Stevens in her book 'Animal Bookmarks - A Tatted Zoo'.

I had to shorten the crocodiles. Tatted in Lizbeth size 20 threads in Col. 171 Green Coral Sea and Flora Col. 234 (top); Col. 134 Mountain Breeze and Col. 670 Victorian Red (bottom).

Thursday 10 March 2016

Bird Cage Lampshades



I saw this in a local cafe.
I have a similar birdcage but mine was bought thinking I would grow plants in them.
Soon!

Wednesday 9 March 2016

Panda




How do you like this panda?



Tuesday 8 March 2016

Prawn Claws

Those were the claws of the fresh water prawn. We had some interesting answers. It just shows creativity. Thank you for all your comments. 

More information about the prawn here. We had some for our lunar new year dinner at home. It was farmed in Malaysia by a family friend. Mom usually cooked this in a curry when we were kids. A treat for the family whenever it was available.




Monday 7 March 2016

Lobster Version 2



This lobster looks lop-sided because there is an extra ring and chain on its head. I realized too late and decided to just leave it. Nothing's perfect.

I do prefer this colourway for the lobster. Tatted in Lizbeth Size 20 in Col. 102 Western Sunset.

What is next?

Saturday 5 March 2016

Friday 4 March 2016

Brown Teddy Bear



This is teddy bear #3. Tatted in Lizbeth 20 in Mocha Brown Medium, Col. 691 and Mountain Breeze, Col. 134. The pattern is from Inga Madsen's Tatted Animals.

If I tat this in black and white, would it make it a panda? I think I will try it.

Thursday 3 March 2016

Nasi Kunyit



This is steamed turmeric-flavoured glutinous rice served with curry chicken. It is normally cooked with white peppercorns in the rice but this one was missing peppercorns. It has been years since I ate this. It was lovely.

I remember this served whenever there was a one-month old baby celebration in Malaysia. It is not a common dish in Singapore. 

Wednesday 2 March 2016

Lobster



Did you guess correctly? I think most of you got it right. Although it could be a mermaid or a fish. Now I am wondering if I should tat a mermaid. 

This is Jane Eborall's pattern from her pattern site. I tatted this in Flora Size 20 in Col. 208. Perhaps, I will tat the next one in a variegated thread. 

Tuesday 1 March 2016

Love, love, love it!




I love this fish bowl. Inside there were three black goldfish. There were other colourful bowls but this was my favourite. It was at a height where you look into it to see the fishes.