Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy Fourth of July! (Motifs 21 and 22!)

Happy Fourth of July!

In honor of the big holiday (and the relative "ease" of two-color tatting with the shuttle) I decided to make a pattern I've been avoiding for a while, Dee Powell's "American Flag" bookmark from Tatted Bookmarks.

  I'm not sure if it's because I used the shuttle, or what, but this pattern was not as easy as it looks! It was rated "intermediate-experienced" and I agree! You can tell especially at the top that I had tension troubles, and if you look more closely at the blue part, you can see the picot problems. Le sigh.

(Patriotic) Motif #21!
 Here is a somewhat closer view:

Still. All shuttle tatted.

I have also been craving buttercream frosting recently, and decided to use some buttercream colored thread to make the other bookmark on the page of Tatted Bookmarks, "Candle", also by Dee Powell.
Motif 22
It could do with some blocking, but the picots are relatively even (and all eyeballed).
 I'm still not sold on the shuttle, but I'm working on it.
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6 comments:

  1. FoxJuly 4, 2013 at 5:19 AM

    Wow! Your tatting looks terrific! Keep up the good work... You are too close to see the amazing improvement. Trust me - you won't be disappointed - keep going!
    Fox ; ))

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    1. Mrs. FinkJuly 6, 2013 at 4:54 AM

      Thanks Fox...I feel like it is slow but steady. :) It's fun to try something new!

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  2. StringyDogsJuly 5, 2013 at 10:03 AM

    I agree with Fox: you have improved tremendously! You are used to seeing perfect work from your needle. I find picot gauges to be invaluable. That might have helped with the blue. But, was the blue the same company? It looks like it tatted differently.

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    1. Mrs. FinkJuly 6, 2013 at 4:59 AM

      Thank you! It is hard feel like I'm going backwards, and trying to figure out elements of tatting that I know with the needle but that are now giving me headaches with the shuttle!

      Believe it or not, the red and blue were from the same company (Chinese, bought in Honduras) and the white was a different company. They all say they are size 8...weird, right? Maybe I'll do something with the three threads and the needle to see how they work that way...

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  3. Kathy NiklewiczJuly 5, 2013 at 4:05 PM

    I think these are both wonderful, and I'm very impressed with the 'flag' bookmark. I don't have the pattern but it does look tricky! I think you're being much too critical!

    I certainly encourage you to continue practicing with the shuttle! I'm not sure whether you crochet, but if you do, you can hold your thread the way you crochet, with the forefinger up rather than the middle finger. Because you needle tat, I assume you are using the forefinger of your left hand to put the stitches on, so you might find it more comforable to hold the shuttle thread that way.

    I'm also quite impressed with your being in Russia and amazed you can even find time to tat, let alone keep up the blog. You certainly have had some interesting adventures!

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    1. Mrs. FinkJuly 6, 2013 at 5:05 AM

      Thanks Kathy! I really like the "Tatted Bookmarks" book--there are a lot of nice patterns there, and a good variety of easy/medium/hard among them. I do not crochet (I tried once, but I kept making the needle tatting hand motion instead of the crochet hand motion, so I decided to leave it for a while. Maybe I should try it again.) Either way, I do find my first finger migrating up every once in a while... :)

      Our life is certainly an interesting one, and often feels quite adventurous! Tatting is great because I can do it anywhere, any time, and is easy to take with me wherever I go!

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