Book Reviews #8 & #9: "Tatting for Pleasure" and "Tatting"

Hello! I've been extremely remiss both in updating my blog and posting book reviews in general, so I decided I would make it up to you, my faithful readers, by giving you TWO BOOK REVIEWS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! Enjoy :)

Title: "Tatting for Pleasure" and "Tatting: Basic Patterns"
Author: Rosemarie Peel

Year of Publication: 1998 and 2009
ISBN: 1 874688 08 7 and 978-1-874688-11-2
Number of Pages: Both books have 32 pages--however, the patterns start on page 1 and end on page 32, so every page in these books counts!

Heart pattern from the title page of Tatting for Pleasure

Number of Patterns: 14 in "Tatting for Pleasure" and 18 in "Tatting: Basic Patterns"
Types of Patterns: Throughout the books you will find various Edgings, 2D Flowers, a 3D Flower, Small circular motifs, a Bracelet, Earrings, a Bookmark, Horseshoes, a Fan, Celtic Motifs and Edging, and a Butterfly.
Type of Pattern Notation: Both books have short notations with abbreviations (Ch 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 3, RW), as well as numbered diagrams AND, for many patterns, additional diagrams which look like hand-drawn pieces of tatting (black and white only in "Tatting for Pleasure", two-colored in "Tatting") which you can use to count the individual double-stitches.

"Alexandra" from Tatting: Basic Patterns

Illustrations: Both books have full-color front and back covers with images of many of the patterns held within. "Tatting: Basic Patterns" also has full-color images on the front and back inside covers, and very cleverly has a picture of a tatted bookmark that looks like it could be pulled out and used as a real bookmark. It makes me smile every time I see it. "Tatting for Pleasure" also has black and white pictures of some of the patterns. While, as far as I can tell, all the patterns inside are shown in photo-form, not all of the photos are next to the patterns. However, Ms. Peel has very helpfully pointed out where the pictures can be found on the page with the pattern.

"Rose" from Tatting: Basic Patterns

Notions: "Tatting: Basic Patterns" includes just two patterns that use beads, and just one other pattern calls for anything besides a shuttle and ball of thread (a fan base with 3 in. sticks). "Tatting for Pleasure" also has patterns with beads, and one with a fabric covered button. Most of the patterns call for two shuttles.

"Button Cover" from Tatting for Pleasure

Shuttle or Needle? I feel comfortable saying that any pattern in either of these books could easily be achieved with the needle, even though all the patterns call for a shuttle.
Other Inclusions: Both books begin with a page of well-described abbreviations used in the books. "Tatting for Pleasure" also includes a page about Shuttle Preparation, detailing one and two color tatting and illustrated directions on how to achieve the Reef Knot to attach two thread ends, an insert about the Reverse Stitch, and another page about Bead Work.

"Tatting: Basic Patterns" has diagrams and directions for Lock Joins, Rings, Reverse Work, The Join, and Getting Rid of Ends, as well as excellent explanations for adding beads and an ingenious way to climb out from the middle of a chain without having to implement a split chain (thus avoiding a two-colored chain if your shuttle thread is a different color than your ball thread.) Page 27 if you happen to have a copy of the book.
Skill Level: "Tatting: Basic Patterns" Beginner / "Tatting for Pleasure" Beginner-Intermediate All the patterns in "Tatting: Basic Patterns" are one shuttle and ball, and are simply a series of rings and chains. "Tatting for Pleasure" has some simple patterns, but also has some more challenging Celtic patterns which will be fun for beginners to grow into.

"Applique Flower" from Tatting for Pleasure 

Skills Needed: Most of the patterns in these books can be achieved with just one shuttle and a ball of thread, or two shuttles with two colors of thread. The Celtic patterns in "Tatting for Pleasure" are definitely daunting for anyone who does not have experience with Celtic or entwined patterns. A couple patterns call for thrown off rings or Josephine knots, but these and pretty much every other skill needed are shown or explained in the book.
Price Range: These are small booklet-sized publications. Prices range from UK Pound 4.50 (US$ 7) to over $20, depending on where you can find it.

Small Celtic motif from "Tatting for Pleasure" 

Availability: The easiest (and cheapest, that I can find) place to get these books would be the author's own website, LACET Publications, but one or the other can also be found at Amazon.com or Handy Hands.
Personal Notes: I bought "Tatting for Pleasure" a long time ago, when I was just starting out in needle tatting, drawn in but also quickly overwhelmed by the amazing Celtic border shown on the front of the book. Having now become fairly well versed with the shuttle, that pattern, and the other Celtic patterns in the book no longer present such a challenge.

Size 40 thread still makes a teeny-tiny motif (this is an Australia 50 cent piece)

As a self-proclaimed Olympics fanatic, Tatting: Basic Patterns' Olympic rings drew me in, but I didn't really do much with the book once I got it. It's funny what appeals to us in the books we purchase.

"Circular Motif" from Tatting, Basic Patterns

Now, after having spent some time with these books, I'm interested in looking more into Ms. Peel's other books, some of which are already out of print and/or selling at ridiculous prices. I'm specifically interested in "Tatting with Beads"...anybody have a copy they'd like to swap or sell? :)

Book Review #5: "Tatting: Patterns and Designs"

I have for you today another book review. Hope you're not too tired of these yet...I'll try to space them more evenly with other "just tatting" posts... :) Try being the operative word there! :)

Title: "Tatting: Patterns and Designs)

This is another Dover publication, and a "slightly abridged republication" of a Swedish book called Frivoliteter, so if you happen to read Swedish and have that book, you don't need this one, too...unless you want it, of course!! :)

Authors: Gun Blomqvist and Elwy Persson 
Year of Publication: 1988 
ISBN: 0-486-25813-0
Number of pages: 95
Number of patterns: 85 

"Chrysanthemum" Shuttle Tatted, Lizbeth 40

Type of pattern notation: Short notation with some abbreviations (ie: R 5-5-5-5. C7. R 5-5-5+5. Reverse work.) The patterns do give some written instruction when necessary, ie: "Repeat until the lace is the length required"

Types of patterns: This book has five sections of patterns, including Edgings and Insertions, Stars, Simple Patterns, Advanced Patterns, and Crowns. In the first section there are 8 edgings, 3 insertions, and 2 patterns that can be used for either purpose. One of the edging patterns is also labeled as a possible collar. The Stars section includes 45 patterns, only maybe two of which I would actually consider to be a "star," and the rest either snowflakes, flowers, or other small motifs. These patterns are organized in groups of 5 and are shown tied together to make a mobile, for which some basic directions are also given.

"Stars Mobile" Needle Tatted, Perle 8

The Simple Patterns section has 15 patterns, including a candlestick frill, mats (including one that is suggested to be a window screen, a collar and cross bookmarks. 

The 9 Advanced Patterns are all doilies

"The Miracle" Needle Tat

There are three patterns in the Crowns section, and all are 3D.

"Charity" Needle tatted, Perle 8 (The model is my beautiful mom!)

Illustrations: All patterns are illustrated with clear black and white photos of finished products
Notions: Each pattern suggests a yarn size, usually DMC 20 or 30. Beyond the materials needed for the mobile, no other notions are suggested. However, I did just add beads to the collar pattern and I think it added a little bit of something, if I do say so myself. :)

"Tendril" Shuttle Tatted, Cebelia 30 with 11/0 Czech Beads

Shuttle or needle? The book gives the ubiquitous shuttle tatting description in the front, but I have made many of the patterns (including all those in the mobile above) with a needle, so this book is appropriate for either method. I did find some of the patterns to be more challenging with the needle than the shuttle, however, especially those that need two shuttles to complete.

"Star No. 4" (pg 35) Needle Tatted, Perle 8

Other inclusions: The book begins with an Introduction which is actually a nice 5-page illustrated (with portraits of famous people with shuttles) short history of tatting. It then has a one-page suggestion for Tools and Materials needed, including a plug for DMC thread and authors experiences working with other materials and the shuttle. The 6-page Techniques section is well-illustrated with black and white line drawings of hands and shuttles, and includes information on Joining Rings, Joining Threads, Second Thread from Ball and [tatting with] Two Shuttles, as well as a section of Definition of Terms and Nature as a Model, which encourages the tatter to see nature as a design inspiration. There are photos of seeds and leaves scattered throughout the book to continue this theme.

"The Big Cross" Needle Tatted, Perle 8

Skill level: Beginner-Intermediate Some of the patterns in the book are quite, quite simple, but others are more tricky, including the 3 crowns at the end. However, every pattern can be achieved through simple rings and chains (no split anythings here) so this book is appropriate for someone new to tatting.

Skills needed: As far as I can see, the most "tricky" skills needed here are the Josephine knot, two shuttle tatting and, for needle tatters especially, leaving bare thread between rings (shuttle only tatters, I'm not sure you understand how much needle tatters tend to loathe "shuttle only" patterns...they are such a pain!!) 

"Star No 2" (pg 49) Needle Tatted, Perle 8

Availability: Although this is an older book, it is still available in the US from the publisher, Dover, as well as Amazon and Be-Stitched (although not through Handy Hands). The UK's Amazon and Tatting and Design also have the book. It is available in ebook, paperback and hardcover formats, depending on where you buy it.
Price range: $6-18 (USD), depending on the format and whether you buy new or used.
Personal Notes: This is definitely a book I would recommend to a newer tatter, as it is one of those books you can "grow with"...patterns that seem impossible early on become a happy challenge later in the game, and something to strive for as you improve your tatting skills. The patterns are clearly marked with Name, Purpose, Yarn (thread suggestion), Size (when tatted with suggested thread), Abbreviations and number of Shuttles, all very helpful in my mind!

"Star No 2" (pg 35) Needle Tatted, Perle 8

I especially love that it is available as an e-book for those who like that format, because it makes it accessible for all (even those of us who move all over the place al the time!) The physical book's size is also smaller than many tatting books (9" tall x 6" wide) so it is portable, even if you don't have it electronically. 

"Star No. 3" (pg 43) Needle Tatted, Perle 8

I just finished this collar over the weekend and I really like it!! I added a jump ring and a lobster clasp to make it a necklace.

So there you have it.

Anybody have a book they are considering procuring/would like to read a review on? If I have it, I will be happy to write something to give you more information before you buy! :)

Fikkert's Ferns-Updated

If you are part of the Tatting group on Facebook you might have seen that a couple of us are working on (read: struggling with) Ben Fikkert's pattern "Ferns" from his book "A Tatting Adventure". 

"Ferns" is the pattern shown on the front of the book and includes quite a few Josephine chains and is deceptively hard and incredibly inclined to pucker, curl and do everything but lay down and play nice!

Here is the doily 2/3 of the way finished:

And here is where I am now, not much further along (but still quite curly):

I am working on the final round of the doily (eight identical leafy inserts connecting the eight fern fronds) and having a bit of trouble. The other lady who is working this pattern has been having tension troubles  with the Josephine chains in the first stages of the doily (her theory is that is has to do with Mr. Fikkert tatting more loosely than she does). I didn't have that kind of problem in the early rounds, but I am definitely struggling with these final inserts! 

Those "rings" on the lower part of the insert aren't rings, they're part of the chain that is apparently too long for the space it is in. And before you ask, yes, I did actually follow he pattern. I checked. Twice. 

So I'm not sure what's going on here, but I'm going to shorten the chain a bit and see if that fixes the issue...

And hopefully it does because, frankly, I'm ready to move on from the Ferns! :)

UPDATE!

Check out the insert on the far left... Hel-lo success! :)

С Новым Годом! (Happy New Year!) Two Final Motifs of 2013!

Oh, come on, you knew the self-imposed tatting break wouldn't last long, right?! :) (Although I have read 2.5 books in the past two days!) :)

Plus it would have really bothered me to stop at 59 motifs...so, I did one more, plus one to grow on. :)

Motif 60

I didn't follow a pattern for this one, but nor can I claim it as my own design, as I've seen large mats made up of this kind of thing; it's simply small flowers made from thread leftover on shuttles...this is all 5's, but next time I think all 6's would be better, as this cupped really badly (you can tell it's all stretched out from trying to lay flat)

Not satisfied with this as my final motif of the year, (really, it's not worthy) I decided to try a pattern that has been catching my eye all month, "Ten-Pointed Snowflake" from Christmas Angels and Other Patterns by Monica Hahn.

I didn't tat this before now because I wasn't sure about the Josephine chains (spiral chains to some of you out there) in shuttle tatting.

I was actually quite fond of the Josephine back in my needle tatting days, so I was disappointed when I tried it with the shuttle--with the needle it was so nice an curly, but the way I originally saw to do it with the shuttle (make a number of the first half of the stitch, then an equal number of the second half of the stitch) looked like a wavy mess.

So, like so many other things I'm interested in learning...I Googled it...and gosh darn it if good old Lady ShuttleMaker didn't have an amazing tutorial right there on her blog!

And so, following her carefully written (and illustrated, thank you very much!) directions I was able to complete my FINAL MOTIF OF 2013!! :)

Motif 61-That's all, folks!

Yep, it's the last...it is currently 11:41 PM of December 31 here in Vladivostok.

(Funny, because it's only 4:41 PM in Moscow, 12:41 PM in London, and my parents in Iowa are still sleeping (at least I hope so, they're both on Christmas break!) at 6:41 AM...heck, it's just 2:41 AM in Honolulu!)

SO, I'm out of time for tatting in 2013...luckily 2014 is right around the corner and I have a lot to strive for improvement...2013 set the bar high!

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year's celebration (ours was pretty low-key...Chris is actually already asleep and I'm writing this sitting in bed next to him...I'm going to wake him up at midnight, though) and an even better 2014!! I can't wait to see what we all achieve in the coming year!

Thanks for all the comments, compliments and encouragement this past year...it's been amazing! :) :)

The "Big Doily" Gets Bigger plus a Bracelet

Greetings!

The past two weeks have been polar opposites for me in terms of tatting:

Two weeks ago I was very productive, as you will see below, and this past week I have been very unproductive, due in part to this:

Ouchie! My finger met the slicer side of my cheese grater and made tatting quite difficult for a few days!

However, I have managed to make a bit of headway on "The Big Doily"

 It amazes me how much nicer the circles look with the centers filled in!

You perhaps notice the big spaces between the first large blue round and the (for now) most outer white ring...the pattern suggests inserting Sorrento Bars, the concept of which is totally escaping me.

I've done Google searches on the topic, and the best help I've found is this from Project Gutenberg's eBook of "The Art of Modern Lace Making" by The Butterick Publishing Co:

 I'm still not quite sure how this is actually going to work...do any of you have any experience with Sorrento Bars or suggestions on how to use them in this pattern?

---

Sometimes before bed my mind wanders and I start thinking about what I would tat if I could find the pattern. If I fix on something I try to write it down before I forget about it...

I really, really love the doily that is the heading of this blog. It is the "Celtic Sugar and Spice Doily" from Tina Neudorf's Needle Tatting From the Heart. Two of my favorite parts are the center motif with the overlapping motifs and the overlapping chains about halfway through.

I was thinking about this doily and decided to try to come up with a bracelet based on those two elements...and here is what I came up with:

The insides:

The outside:

The bracelet:

 The original drawing:

And then of course I got a brainwave...and remembered these long-neglected beads in just the right colors for this bracelet!

So I decided to add some...I wanted to put in the overlapping chains, but they didn't look the way I wanted them too...tension issues again :(

 So I cut them out and went to my old standby and personal favorite: Josephine!

And here is the finished product:

And wasn't Pip nice, he helped!

 

 

Maybe someday I'll come up with the pattern, but for now I want to tweak it a bit more...it's the type-A perfectionist in me, I think.  :)