Garlands!

I admit it.  I have issues with tackling too many big projects at once.  I’m trying to cut down on the number of big projects I start and trying not to start new ones until I’ve finished others, and to be honest I have been getting better at it.  I do start just as many big projects, but I’ve been pretty good about actually finishing others before starting the new ones.  But some big projects have a timeliness to them and I can’t wait until I’ve finished others before starting them.  This is one of them.

The other day I was at Joanns with a friend buying fabric and determined not to buy any more tatting supplies.  I stayed far away from the thread even though I was in Las Vegas where they actually sell Lizbeth tatting thread (they don’t sell it in the Joanns in Southern CA).  Unfortunately we still slowed down near the racks of random stuff near the front and I saw their little containers of 10 yards of beaded garland.  “Hey, I’ve been wanting to try Krystledawne‘s technique for covering a strand of rhinestones for a long time but haven’t been able to find any strands of rhinestones.  I bet this will work just as well!” So of course, I picked it up and now I’m trying to tat 10 yards of lace as a garland for my Christmas tree.  It’s a really cool technique and goes pretty fast, but I highly doubt that I’ll finish 10 yards.  Especially since I’m about to run out of the thread and don’t want to buy anymore while I’m in LA since I know I have a ton in San Diego and Seattle.  (This is the big project that I mentioned in my last post that uses the same thread as my sample shawl.)

So I may not finish it for this Christmas, but at least I’ll get a good start on it for next year.  It will still look nice on the tree even if it’s unfinished.  In this pattern you go through the whole strand covering one side of the beads and then come back and do the other.  I think I might get it finished in one direction, but probably not the second.  I started a few inches from the end so that I could see what it will look like when it’s done.  I like the twist that the rings will have in the finished version and I even sort of like the twist that the whole thing has when you’ve only one side of it.  By the way, please forgive the bad pictures.  I took these in the office at night and the lighting sort of sucks.  It’s much brighter in better light and I think it’ll look cool with the Christmas lights.