Quietly Tatting

Hi. 

Amazing how time flies. Welcome to May, I guess. :)

So I've been quietly tatting down here, not doing much of consequence, but playing a little and trying to empty some shuttles. 

So let's see...

Today I did this:

Which looks like this on the back side:

The blue/pink/purple rows are size 40 Lizbeth, the white row is size 20 Lizbeth. The pattern can be found here: http://free-tatting.com/?p=38

I have also met up with another Canberra tatter(!!!!!!!!!!) and we have both been working on a Jan Stawasz pattern from "Tatting Theory and Patterns". 

So far I've accomplished just a little more than this:

  ...but not much more!

I think it's going to be pretty when I finish it. :)

Hm, what else? 

I've been playing on eBay and bought a couple dozen issues of "The Workbasket", which is pretty awesome. I love looking through all the old ads, recipes, and of course the tatting patterns!

The issues span from 1954 to 1992, so there is a lot of depth, and it's very interesting to see the change in the interests the "Workbasket" editors assumed their readers had...and what people thought was fashionable through the years!

Other than that, it's same old, same old. Not a complaint, just an observation. :)

The Reveal

So, are you ready to find out what I've been working on for the past months (almost exclusively, I might add...it's been a labor of love, I tell you!)

I first referenced this project on February 7, a full 2 months ago, and at that point I'd been working on it for at least a week, so this has been a long time coming!!

The decision to make this doily came on an early morning train trip to Dulles Airport to meet my brother and sister-in-law when they came to visit us in DC. I wanted to start a project that would end up being over 12" wide, and I wanted to make something fun.

I Googled "big doily" and eventually found my way Georgia Seitz's wonderful BellaOnline site's listing of large doily patterns. After a couple clicks, I found my way to Pineapple Heaven by Dorthea Albee, and immediately fell in love, not entirely with Dorthea's small version, but with the large black and white picture next to it (pictured below) and here.

After perusal of the pattern, I realized that the large doily, the one with the lovely pineapple points, was not the pattern listed on the page, but that the old-looking black and white picture was nice enough (and could be enlarged enough) that I could figure out the stitch count on my own.

Sketchy, Kristen...

I know, I hear you thinking this...and you are right.

Let me be clear, I feel VERY strongly that copying online patterns by reading the stitch count is super-sketchy and NOT OK, but I promise you I began this exercise with an assumption that the black and white picture, which was not the pattern on the page, was an out of print photo which had obviously inspired Dorthea's pattern but had no extant pattern, and with full intentions of waiting to publish anything specific about the project until
     a) the doily was done, and
     b) I had verified with Georgia to make sure I wasn't infringing on anyone's copyright if I shared my worked out version of the pattern on my blog, because I also feel VERY strongly that selling out-of-copyright patterns is not cool, unless maybe you've done a significant amount of work to update the pattern or re-published it in a book or something, but even then...blah. Just copying and selling an antique pattern is lame, IMHO. (Bwahaha, just ask me and I'll tell you, I guess.)

Anyway, that is what I did. And Georgia did give me very kind permission to provide you with my version of the pattern, but also had a surprise for me...

Guess what, I did a whole bunch of guessing for nothing, because of course the big doily was also Dorthea's pattern, and Georgia has that pattern in her amazing library of pattern amazingness...of course!

Moral of the story, ask first, save yourself some work. Hahahahahahaha!!!

I compared what I worked out with Dorthea's original pattern, and to be very honest it would be silly for me to provide you with my pattern because it was so, so similar to hers, so if you want the pattern, chat with Georgia. I promise you, it's worth the time, and it will probably take you way less time than it did me, because you won't be working it out as you go along. :)

Not that I think this was a wasted effort, because I truly did learn a lot from making this doily, especially about adapting an older pattern with updated techniques (ie: climbing out from round to round) AND this is my first project tatted entirely in frontside/backside tatting...also I am just so in love with pineapple patterns. Beautiful.

But still. Don't assume something is without a pattern until you ask. :)

And don't copy patterns from the Internet. Or sell antique patterns.

ANYWAY...Diatribe over.

--

So, are you ready for this?

If you would please disregard the many loose threads, here is the finished product I have been working on for many, many weeks:

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?!

I will admit, I got really sick of the project about 3/4 of the way through, mostly because of the color and because, while almost 30 of the rounds could be done by climbing out and up, the 20 points around the edge had to be done individually and I don't love doing many tiny motifs...I avoid them whenever possible.

However, now that it's done, I love it again, more than I loved it when I saw the original picture.

So, what should I do with it, now that it's done? (Besides cutting off all the threads--that will be done once I decide what to do with it, and re-block it to iron out the last issues.)

Right now, I'm thinking about mounting it on a pillow. Not either of the ones below, of course--these are just for sizing purposes.

The top pillow is 18x18 (inches), the bottom is 14x14. In the big picture above, the black part of the frame is 15x15, the wooden part of the frame is 16x16.

What do you think? Do you like the pillow idea? What size of pillow do you like best? What color background, dark or light?

Right now I'm thinking navy blue 18x18...

Anyway, there you have it. Mad props to Muskaan and mb duke for their guesses about it being either Teri Dusenbury's beautiful Forever Young or one of Camelia Lambert's amazing pineapples...it could have been either, but it's not, it's Dorthea Albee's Pineapple Heaven and it was lots and lots of fun (and work) to create!

A Teaser :)

Ah. Finally.

Life here in Canberra has finally become complete...all our "stuff" has arrived, including about half of my personal library (the rest is in storage) and ALL of my tatting books!

I have organized them a little differently here--the English-language are on the left and the foreign language (including Russian, Polish, Japanese, German, Dutch and Thai) on the right...lovely!

Also, I FINALLY finished the big project I was working on (finally!) but it's not quite done being blocked/finalized, but since you have all been so patient, I have for you a small teaser...

 I promise, the rest will be revealed, before the end of the week.

Kristen, over and out.

Some Little Nothings

Sometimes I'm too busy to tat, to blog, or both...recently it's been kind of both, but (besides my birthday cupcake) I have been pegging away at a few projects:

This is an antique motif (Snowflake) from the most recent Handy Hands newsletter, tatted in size 20 and kind of fun to execute:

And here are my attempts to learn interlocking SCMR rings (a BIG thanks to all of you with online tutorials for these techniques!!!! SCMR: Jane E and the Shuttle Brothers; Interlocking Rings: Umi & Tsuru, Muskaan, Kathy and God's Kid) in anticipation of joining the challenge to make Jane McLellan's magnificent "Under an African Sky" doily...

Size 20 (ecru), then size 30 Cebelia

Here is my best so far (for the first time all the rings interlock correctly, but of course I ran out of thread on the VERY LAST RING!!!):

Oh well...more practice :)

I have also been plugging away at a flowery Jan Stawasz pattern, one which made the rounds of Facebook a few months ago (and unfortunately seems to be readily available online in illegal .jpgs...boo to that.) Buy the book, people, it's totally worth it!

I'm actually having a bit of trouble with this pattern--tension trouble. Le sigh. I thought I was past this!

So, what's a girl to do but wet the offending doily down and pin it into submission!?

Bad doily! Stop cupping!!!

So, we'll see...

I did double-check, and I'm pretty sure I executed the pattern correctly, so it's probably more of an "I tat too tightly" issue rather than a pattern problem...??

Two rows to go, and hopefully no more tension troubles. *Hopefully.*

Finally...here's a really cool tatting-esque shirt I saw the other day--I didn't buy it (but I kind of wish I had...it's really cool!) Maybe I can figure out the pattern and make myself something similar instead...maybe!

Eh, we'll see! :)

31

Yesterday was my 31st birthday, and while I was too busy working and decorating my edible birthday cake to get to tat, today I worked up another cake of the thread variety:

Awfully cute, and much better decorated, I think, than my real cake:

Yikes. :)

The cupcake pattern comes from Nancy Tracy's Be-stitched.com, and is a fun and quick birthday tat! :)

Slightly Stuck

Hm, two "help me" posts in a row...yikes! Sorry 'bout that :)

So. I am a little stuck on another pattern!

I am working the "Rose and Thistle" mat from Lindsay Rogers' "Mastering Tatting," a book I really love and a pattern I have been wanting to work for quite a while...but especially since being very inspired over the summer in the UK:

One of many Tudor (English) Roses at Hampton Court Palace

and a Hampton Court Thistle

Here is a "thistle" I found in Scotland

After a recent thread infusion (because you know, I really needed more thread ;) I found I had all the right colors to make this mat using DMC size 80, and I made it through the first few rounds without incident:

Round 1: The yellow color is meant to represent the daffodil of Wales, a place we did not get to this summer but is on our short list to visit on our next trip.

Round 2: Seven Tudor (English) roses

Round 3: some greenery to tie them together

Round 4: Scottish Thistles and Irish Shamrocks, and a problem...

OK, here is where I need your help!

The thistles tat up just fine (eventually I'll snip the tips and fuzz the tops to make them appropriately thistle-y) but look what happens when you get to the shamrock:

Do you see the problem? Look at the way the green thread is pointed...

The shamrock is made with a ring surrounded by chains to make the shamrock. If I make the ring here, then RW to make the leaves of the shamrock, the green thread ends up pointing back to the previous thistle, not on to the next one...if that makes any sense. (?)

The first chain of the shamrock leaf is supposed to join the previous small purple ring, but to do that, the green thread needs to be pointing the other way...and if I just force the thread to go where it want it to go, the chain twists...gah.

Maybe the solution is simple...maybe as simple as executing the shoelace trick before I make the ring??

Any other ideas? The pattern doesn't specifically say how to deal with this, it just says to "Repeat around them mat, starting again at the shamrock". (Not helpful.)

So, as I'm stymied on the last round of that mat, I have been working on a couple other projects.

Thanks for everyone who weighed in on my Stawasz Conundrum a week or so ago, I did decide to continue on and finished it:

 I do like the finished project, even though it definitely won't fit inside my hot plate any more :)

I also worked up this White-Striped Golden Minor Flying Norwegian Dragon as a goodbye gift for a departing officer who loves fantasy stories:

Thread is Perle 8, purchased in Honduras. I have so much Perle 8 thread, I decided I'd better use it for something! If anyone wants/needs Perle 8, please let me know! I have plenty to share!!

 The original pattern by Anne Bruvold called for SSSRs up the tail, body and neck, but I honestly just couldn't be bothered to review the technique, so I decided to go with traditional split rings and it worked just fine. I actually think he's pretty cute in two colors.

He even got in some flying practice courtesy of Christopher :)

So anyway, that's it.

I just realized this is my 99th(!) blog post, I'll have to come up with something spectacular for the big 100 :)

A Little Tatting at Home (but not much!)

So, I'm home!!!!

I've had a really wonderful week and a half at home so far, with 3 or so weeks to come!

Mostly I've been busy with these cool kids:

Yay nieces and nephews!! They are all sooooo fun!

I have managed to tat a little in-between snuggles and play:

This is another Nina Libin necklace (http://www.georgiaseitz.com/classes2/libin.html) with a pair of earrings that I made using the first few rounds of the pattern.

I'm interested if anyone else put there has made this pattern...if so, how did you finish it? The pattern really doesn't say exactly how to finish it, but it seems that you are supposed to just attach the final chain to the first ring?? But if you do that the necklace won't fit over your head!! So, I made the last chain into a ring and attached a jump ring and clasp instead, to make it easy to put on and off. 

I also made another bell, this one a Jane Eborall pattern (http://www.janeeborall.freeservers.com/Bell20043D.pdf):

I'm not sure why, but this looks MUCH better on Jane's site! :)

Oh well. :)

More Projects (Motifs 23-26!)

Well, once again you have Grace to thank for reminding me to update my blog.

Sigh. Sorry!

If I actually posted every time I thought about it, there would be multiple posts a day. I am just not good with time management, I guess...or maybe I just put more time into tatting (and working, and cooking, and...) and less into blogging?

Anyway, thanks for the prompt, Grace, and here is my update! :)

There have been some continuing trends in the past few weeks, and some wide divergences:

For example, in the quest to make an actually wear-able sized baby bootie (and no, in case any of you are wondering, I'm not trying to drop subtle hints, I am not expecting! but I do have an awfully cute niece who is still very small). I used Cathy Bryant's book "Tatting" to make this:

Motif 23

This is still quite small, but larger than the first option.

So, I kept looking via Google images and found a (Lenore English?) pattern on somebody's Pintrest (which I am now feeling guilty about, thanks to Jane's exceptionally accurate post today...thanks for continuing your crusade Jane, you are so right! If anyone recognizes the pattern as Lenore's (or anybody else's for that matter) and knows how to contact the author I'd be happy to send remuneration if they didn't make the pattern generally available...it doesn't look like it's been copied from a book, but it could be, I suppose...)

Motif 24

Again, I'm not a mother and I don't spend a lot of time around small children (I teach middle school and my nieces and nephews are all on another continent), but I think these are a slightly better size for baby feet?

For comparison (remember the one on the top right is about the length of a Clover shuttle):

Eh.

I've kind of met my tolerance for pink and baby stuff I'll never actually use...let's move on to something usable and blue! :)

Motif 25!!!! Peacock from "Animal Bookmarks: A Tatted Zoo"

Aren't these two cute?! Normally I do not like to make multiples of things, but this was a challenging pattern and I was trying to do a good job, so one is the "practice" and one is the "perfect."

Oh wait, hahaha. :)

Also, I need to point out:

It's not even June yet, and I made it to 25 Motifs!!

This is unprecedented. And a bit amazing. :) I'm so proud :)

Finally, I decided to branch out a bit and dip into the Beanile pool. Nina Libin has so many great things out there in tat-land, and was nice enough to send me a list of Russian tatting terms when I reached out to her shortly after moving to Russia and acquiring a bunch of Russian tatting books, so I thought the least I could do was try out her signature technique:

Motif 26: Beaded Necklace by Nina Libin, pattern found on the Online Tatting Class website

 I'm not sure if this makes any difference in the end, I realized about halfway through that I was using the Needle Tatting pattern to make this necklace, rather than the Shuttle Tatting pattern. After comparing and contrasting, the big difference is the use of one needle vs. two shuttles. I think I'll work this pattern again with 2 shuttles and see what difference (if any) there is...

Because, why not?!

So, there you go Grace, another post done. Thanks again... :)

I will try to be better about posting pictures soon(er) after I finish something, but no promises... I'm off on a 6-week circumnavigation of the world next week (Vlad-Iowa, Iowa-London, London-Vlad) so I will be quite busy, but how is that anything new?! :)