Dona Nobis Pacem

Today's musical interlude is not strictly a Christmas song, but is nonetheless completely in keeping with the spirit of the season, or at least what should be the spirit of the season. This version of "Dona Nobis Pacem" is arranged by Angi Bemiss.

"Dona Nobis Pacem": Traditional, Arranged by Angi Bemiss ©2003, Used by permission.

I've added links in the sidebar to the previous harp videos so you can still find them when they drop off the front page.

Two Finished Projects

In the last week there have been two things I've posted and said I was going to do more with them. I have now done so.

First up, Mary Konior's "Posy", which I showed four days ago. It is now attached to a small organza bag along with MK's "Leaf Braid" edging.

And the bag is filled with cinnamon sticks, cloves, and dried orange peel for a wonderful scented sachet.

I found out that Jo-Ann's sells the bags, so I'm going to do more of these.

Next up is the dragon I posted last Saturday, which now has a friend.

I joined them first by the middle ring of the clover at the end of the tail; I put tiny little joining picots on either side of the decorative picot/ bead. Then after every couple of split rings, I joined the second dragon to the first and brought the threads around to the other side so that the tails would wrap around each other. Then I joined the dimpled rings on the heads in the same way that I joined the ends of the tails. I didn't join the bodies or wings to each other at all. After the dragons were finished, I made a lock-stitch chain about six inches long and threaded it through the picots that form the dimples on the two dimpled rings at the head; this is the hanging cord.

This is really hard to photograph, so I hope I've been able to describe what I did adequately. Here are some close-ups of the heads and tails.

The Cherry Tree

This is Nancy Tracy's cherry pattern, more or less. As I was making the second cherry, I noticed that I had made the first one too big by one repeat, so I made the second one to match it. And because I was making it in colors instead of all white, I obviously couldn't tat the leaf continuously with the cherries. Instead, I made a lock stitch and small picot at the end of the first stem and reversed work, then worked my way down the second stem to make the second cherry. I joined the green thread to that small picot between stems to start the leaf. I used balance double stitches for the stems to help them lay more nicely.

The legend of the cherry tree has its origins in the Apocrypha. The version that has come down to us in song is slightly different from the original, and there are many different Cherry Tree Carols. It's quite possible that none of these may be the one you know. First is a tricky (at least on the harp) Appalachian tune called "The Cherry-Tree", arranged by Thom Dutton. Next is an English version arranged by Sylvia Woods (if you like harp music, visit Sylvia's website-- she has has best selection of harp CD's of any place I know). Finally, another Appalachian tune called "As Joseph Was A-Walkin'", also arranged by Thom Dutton. This last one doesn't actually mention a cherry tree in the lyrics, but its lyrics were incorporated into later Cherry Tree Carols, so it is considered part of the "Cherry Tree Series".

(1)“The Cherry-Tree”: Traditional American, Arranged by Thom Dutton ©2001 Cape Side Music, Used by permission. (2)“The Cherry Tree Carol”: Traditional English, Arranged by Sylvia Woods©1984 Woods Music and Books, Used by permission. (3)“As Joseph Was A-Walkin’”: Traditional American, Arranged by Thom Dutton ©2001 Cape Side Music, Used by permission.

Purple Posy

This is Mary Konior's "Posy" motif from Tatting with Visual Patterns. It's the same thread I used on the dragon.

This is not the first time I've tatted this, but I always have to be careful joining the last ring of each repeat to the last ring of the previous repeat. It usually takes me several tries to get it right. I either end up with the thread coming out on the top-- it needs to come out on the bottom in order to pass it behind the work to start the next repeat-- or else I somehow manage to get the ring wrapped around the whole piece so that I can't close it. Once I figure out how to hold the threads to make it work the first time, subsequent repeats are much easier, but I still have to go through this process every time I make this pattern.

I have plans for this posy. You'll see.

Taladh Chriosta

This year I decided I would like to reduce the stress of the holiday season and counteract the nerve-jangling music inflicted on us by the malls (actually, I can't remember the last time I was in a mall, but I assume they still play nerve-jangling music) by making a series of videos of harp music. I'll be presenting these at random intervals throughout the month of December. The first one is the Scottish carol "Taladh Chriosta", or "The Christ Child's Lullaby", arranged by Sunita Staneslow. Sunita's own recording of this piece can be found on her CD Christmas Day. Lyrics can be found here.

"The Christ Child's Lullaby": Traditional Scottish, arranged by Sunita Staneslow  © 2003. Used by permission.

Color!

The second "Emily" doily is now finished, but not blocked yet. I haven't had a chance when I would be around to keep an eye on Squijum the pin-muncher for the entire time it takes to dry.

The doilies are pretty and elegant in all white, but I have to say, I'm really a fan of color.

This is, of course, Anne Bruvold's Flying Minor Norwegian Dragon, to which I added a lot of beads along the spine and tips of the wings. The thread is one of LadyShuttleMaker's; I think the colorway is "Royalty", but I could be wrong. Sherry? It's size 80.

This pattern calls for SSSR's for the tail and neck, but I always make it with regular split rings instead. You have to add a second thread anyway to make the chains on the body, and that gives you two extra ends to hide. If you start with two threads CTM from the beginning, then you already have what you need when you get to the body and don't have to hide any ends till you finish the head.

I have an idea to tat a second dragon and have their tails twined around each other. I think it will work, but of course I won't know until I try.

One Down...

Here is the first "Emily" doily completed.

I'm 3/4 of the way done with the last round of the other one as well.

The pattern is by Janet Carroll, from the book Elegant Tatting Patterns. The book says the finished size is 7 1/2 inches (19 cm) in size 30 thread. I used size 20, so I expected it to come out slightly bigger; instead, mine measures 6 3/4 inches (17 cm). Either I tat WAY tighter than I thought, or else Ms. Carroll must tat very loosely. In any case, it's a nice size for putting under a candlestick, vase, or other small knick-knack.

I've been thinking lately, a lot of people don't like doilies because they consider them fussy and unnecessary. But they actually serve the very practical purpose of protecting your furniture from being scratched by whatever you set on top of the doily. People do still put decorative objects on their tables and shelves, so it seems like it shouldn't be that hard to make them see the value of doilies. The problem is with the word "doily" itself, which reminds people of some spinster great-aunt. So maybe we should start calling them "anti-scratch mats" instead and people might start getting interested again. And while we're at it, maybe we should bring back hair oil for men to revive interest in antimacassars... nah, that's going too far!