Chinese Opera Masks in Chinatown

The mask on the building was new. It was not there the last time I was in Chinatown. It must have been a while. The same type of masks were found hanging as lanterns in a shop nearby. They are colourful. I remember I loved watching Chinese Opera in street fairs when I was young. I could not understand what was said or followed the story but I was mesmerised by the noise, the colours of the costumes and the make up. That seems like ages ago.

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #12

This reminds me of a flower but a star is seen in the negative space. Snowflake #12 is Myra Piper's pattern No. 16 on page 6. I am glad that some of the snowflakes are smaller than others. I think a variety of sizes would look better on the tree.

Chopsticks Helper

This is my niece during our recent Chinese New Year dinner. She was showing me how she is learning to use the chopsticks with a chopsticks helper. She uses it for noodles and she is quite good at it.

Third Attempt - Continued

In the book, some designs evolve into larger ones. So I did not mind tatting this three times because I could continue this into a larger one. With the additional two more rounds, this ended up measuring about 8.5 inches across. I love what the 3rd round gave to this design but did not care too much for the 4th round. I still think I should have used a thicker thread to give it more structure. To refresh your memory - 1st, 2nd and 3rd attempts.

Hydrangea

This is my first Hydrangea plant and it has just bloomed. This is one of my favourite flowers. The flowers looks white, light green and light blue. I guess the soil in the pot may not be optimal and my balcony does not get much sun but to me, it still looks beautiful.

And one week later, it began to get more colour. I was quite amazed at how large it bloomed into and the plant is growing bigger. Will have to transplant it into a bigger pot soon.

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #11

A unique pattern for a snowflake. This is Myra Piper's pattern No. 14. on page 5. Notice the 3 rings which looks like an 'inverted clover'. I have never seen this in other patterns which I have tatted before.

Four Leaf Clovers

This is Tatting Goddess' Bloomin' Shamrocks pattern. It is way past St Patrick's Day so instead of making 3 petals, I made four for good luck. Both are in green, Size 20 (Coats Floretta #4428) and Size 40 (Lizbeth Spring Green #680). Thank you Gina for sharing the pattern.

Five Petal Pendant - Pink

This is the first pattern in Marilee Rockley's book 'Up and Tat 'Em'. I used Flora Size 20 thread in Col. #207 and 6mm briollete doughnut Swarovski crystals. It measures about 2 inches across. It was a fun pattern to tat but I do prefer the shape of Marilee's Grand Aura and Belle patterns.

Trailing Abutilon

It is also called Chinese lanterns or Abutilon megapotamicum. They seem quite easy to grow but the flowers tend to drop quite fast. Before it blooms, the bud does look like a lantern.

I am waiting for my bleeding heart plant to flower. It has flowered many times but I did not manage to take a photo of it. A new shoot is growing vigorously but it has not bloomed yet.

Did you notice the new background. I have been meaning to change it. It was time. I was using the same background since I started the blog.

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #10

I could not decide which photo to post, so here is both. This is pattern No. 44 of Myra Piper's book. Tatted in Milford Size 40 threads using about 3 metres of threads in each shuttle.

There are 47 patterns in this little book and in the introduction, Myra Piper describes that she tatted 300 snowflakes for a church Christmas tree in 1972. I hope Myra Piper knows that her snowflakes will be on many Christmas trees all over the world.