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!

Post 100, Book Review #1: "Tatting Patterns"

Hooray! My 100th post!

Yes, I know there are some of you amazing people who post 100 times over the course of weeks, rather than years, but, I will take my small victories when I can get them. :)

I really wanted to come up with something "spectacular" for my 100th post, which is why I haven't posted in the past 4 weeks--I just couldn't think of anything spectacular to talk about!

So, in lieu of something spectacular, I've decided to substitute something practical...a book review!

There are so many amazing tatting books floating around out there (and so many of them represented on my bookshelves!), but so few 1) easily found and 2) substantial book reviews about them (especially for the older books) available online.** 

In honor of my 100th post (and in an attempt to post more often) I have decided, in my own small way, to try to remedy that situation with a series of in-depth and hopefully helpful book reviews. :)

I'm going to start the series with the very first tatting book I ever owned, Lyn Morton's "Tatting Patterns"

I was given my copy of this book by my parents for my birthday in the early or mid-2000s. I was initially attracted by the beautiful colors and variety of patterns, but quickly found it was beyond my abilities at that point in time...but I'm getting ahead of myself. :)

One of two covers available (image via Amazon.com)

Title: "Tatting Patterns"
Author: Lyn Morton
ISBN: 978-1-86108-261-9
Number of pages: 106
Number of patterns: 44
Type of pattern notation: Long notation with abbreviations (ie: Ring of 5DS, P, 5DS close. RW chain of 6 DS.) and labeled diagrams
Types of patterns: The book is broken into three sections:
     1) Patterns/Motifs: flower edging, motifs (mostly flowers, crosses and a butterfly)
     2) Jewelry and Accessories: earrings, necklaces, collar, 3D flower corsage, wedding ring bearer pillow
     3) Greeting cards: a variety of 2 and 3-round motifs are displayed mounted on greeting cards
Illustrations: Full color photographs and black and white diagrams.
Notions: The patterns are shown tatted in both beautifully-colored Turkish cotton and shiny metallic threads. Some patterns call for beads, or are shown with beads added. At least one pattern makes use of a center doodad, a few others are displayed as ornaments within a metal ring, and of course the greeting card section includes other practical applications for the motifs
Other inclusions: The book starts with a one-page history of tatting and short list of abbreviations used in the book. There are no "How to Tat" directions given in this book.
Shuttle or needle? The patterns are written for the shuttle (most patterns start with a suggestion of how much thread to wind or how many turns of the shuttle to make) and were quite trying for me when I tried to tat them with the needle...but with perseverance (and more practice than I'd had when I started working with this book) most of the patterns can be executed with either needle or shuttle

Pattern "Peggy" needle tatted in Perle 8

Skill level: Intermediate As a beginning needle tatter I struggled with this book. The author points out several patterns she considers to be easier than the others, but it took me a while before I could execute some of the trickier joins. As a progressing shuttle tatter, I find the motifs slightly easier to make, and using split rings and chains to climb from row to row will greatly limit the cutting, tying and hiding that originally turned me off to this book.
Skills needed: Addition of beads, split rings, lock joins
Availability: This is one of the more available tatting books. I have seen it in craft stores (my mom bought this for me at a big-box store in Des Moines, Iowa!) and is readily online at Handy Hands, Amazon, Be-Stitched, Tatting and Design (UK), etc. I even have a copy of this book in Russian!

I wonder in Lyn Morton knows this book has been published in Russian?

Price range: This book is available used from around $7-$14 new, depending on where you get it. It is also a compilation of her first four books (conveniently called "Tatting Patterns Book 1, 2, 3 or 4"
Personal Notes: Full disclosure, I have a large amount of nostalgia for this book due to it's status as my "First Tatting Book," but it took me a while to actually like it, mostly due to many early failures to execute even those patterns suggested to be "easy" buy the author. After a few years of practice, I have it another chance, and this book is now my go-to motif book. I would recommend this book for an intermediate or above tatter interested in playing with small motifs, especially if you are looking for a chance to practice "climbing out" from round to round, or repeating motifs to make larger doilies, mats or other items. These patterns are quick and cute, and the book does a great job of promoting practical uses for tatting, something which I know I struggle with!

Pattern: "Five-Point Snowflake Motif" shuttle tatted in DMC size 80

So there you go, my first book review. :)

Was this helpful? Did I leave something important out? Is there something I should add on my next review?

**Note: Here are some notable exceptions to the lack of substantive (and easily-found) online reviews:

•Georgia Seitz's page of reviews, including lists of non-English books, artist spotlights and one-off book reviews

•Davina-Marie from Shuttlebird's review of Jon Yusoff's "Elegant Tatting Gems"

•Fiona (OneMadTatter) T's review of "New Tatting"

•Heather from Tatted Treasures' reviews of Lyn Morton's "Tatted Tatting and Design", Nancy Tracy's "Tat's Where I Stopped", and Jan Stawasz' "Tatting Theory and Patterns"

•Krystledawne's review of Teiko Fujito's works "Tatted Fashion" and "The Tatted Artistry of Teiko Fujito"

•Hugs are Fun's review of "New Tatting"

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 :)

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?! :)

Torrential Typhoon = Time to Tat!

Hi!

I feel a little bad...everyone all over the world is talking about how hot it's been recently...here, it hasn't been so much hot, but very, VERY wet!

Part of that, I guess, is Vlad in the summer...and part is typhoon season in Japan! (A typhoon, by the way, is exactly the same thing as a hurricane. As the National Ocean Service says, "The only difference between a hurricane, a cyclone, and a typhoon is the location where the storm occurs." It's a very similar thing to Jane's brooch/pin conversation from the other day.)

So, we lived through Hurricane Sandy in DCLand last summer, and now have survived our first typhoon!

 Unfortunately our balcony didn't survive totally unscathed...thank goodness for empty jars that can double as rain-catchers!

I don't actually mind the rain, especially because it gives me the chance to wear these:

So much rain!!

Of course, it rained ALL day Saturday and ALL day Sunday, and then Monday morning looked like this:

Go figure.

Anyway, all that rain made the idea of going out a little less-than-lovely...so I stayed inside and practiced my shuttle tatting on a gift for my littlest brother:

Recognize this? It's part of the Corner Bookmark from Tatting by Cathy Bryant

I think this might be my "comfort" or "go-to" tat, at least for a while. It's challenging, yet repetitious, and I've been fairly successful with both the needle and the shuttle. I also think it's probably pretty adaptable, but I haven't tried that yet.

This is one of my first real tatting requests, which for me is pretty exciting. I've had one other request that I can remember, but even that was general "I want a necklace" rather than specifics...

After seeing the bookmark I entered into the fair, my sister-in-law asked for a bookmark exactly like the one I entered (which I already had made) and my brother asked for the bookmark in black and yellow, which I made last weekend:

 This request was actually harder to fulfill than it should have been...not physically harder, of course, but emotionally harder...in my world, black and yellow DO NOT belong together (black and yellow being, of course, the color of the dreaded Iowa Hawkeyes...boooo!! I would much much rather have made the bookmark in cardinal and gold, the lovely colors of the Iowa State Cyclones...yaaaaay!! or even the blue and white of both my alma mater, Drake University(!), and his, Creighton University(¡).

 Of course, he wasn't asking because of the Hawkeyes (as he is a sensible Cyclone fan) but for Vanderbilt University where he is working toward his doctorate...so I guess that's ok. :)

Anyway, all that rain gave me plenty of time to finish his bookmark, which is awesome, because I'm seeing him in just over a week! :) YAY!

Practicing With False Plaits and First Fair Ribbons! :)

 Well hello!

 I finally got back on the tatting train this week, practicing the shuttle motions with false plaits. I'm pretty sure my chaining skills are pretty solid now...so I suppose I need to make a whole bunch of trefoils now to practice my ring skills! :)

 Anyway, here are my false plaits:

 The pattern is 8 ds of one color, rw, 8 ds of the other color, then holding both shuttles 1 ds, rw, 1 ds, then repeat until you have the length you desire. Then start all over and do it all again, until you have two strands of the same length.

Of course, I ended up with some tension troubles and funky twisting going on:

Eh, oh well. :)

 My strands of false plaits ended up really long, almost a yard each:

Next I weaved the strands together by laying one strand on top of the other (opposite colors together)

 and pull the top strand through the bottom strand, over and over and over to make a braided effect...

 Good times!

Of course, the tension troubles made some of the circles want to twist, so at a certain point I let the same side colors twist together, making one side all white and one side all blue:

(split colors on the left, braided on the right)

This seems like such a nice cord, I decided to make something usable; a new lanyard for my ID badge at work, which is why I made the strands so long!

Actually, as I went along I noticed that it kind of reminded me of the friendship bracelets I made when I was a kid--the ones where you make the 4 and slide the knots up...which now that I think about it, making those 4s was like making an un-flipped half of a double stitch...

Whoa. Mind blown! :)

Anyway, that's that. I have a couple of gifts I need to work this week, so hopefully I'll have something more interesting to show you soon!

I also had some good news from Iowa this week...I won some ribbons at the Southern Iowa Fair!

One of the joys of being with the State Department is that, while we live most of the year in other parts of the world, our official residency and address for all the important things (voting, taxes, and Fair entries) remains in Iowa!

So, I still get to enter my tatting in the Fairs! :)

I just have to get creative about how I get the work to the Fair...this year, since I'm still in Russia right now, I mailed it to my awesome mom and she took it to the judges!

Here are my ribbons!

Tatted jewelry: Blue (It's the brown bracelet I designed a few months ago)

 The colored bookmark in the corner is mine as well--and also won blue! (This was my motif #7--the opposite side is the same pattern tatted in cream to make a corner bookmark-the pattern is from Tatting by Cathy Bryant). Actually, I guess this was up for the overall best of show prize, but it didn't win. Eh, you can't win them all! :)

 The pillowcase edging (motif #14) showed up as well, and also won blue! Unfortunately you can't see it very well in the picture, but I will upload another picture of it in a few weeks...

Amazingly the baby bib also won a blue ribbon...I guess they really do judge the tatting and not the applique technique! :) Thanks again for the great TIAS pattern, Jane!

 And, of course, there's The Big Doily. Another blue, and again this year, I need to point out how AWESOME MY MOM IS!!!

 I sent her the doily folded into quarters, but she was told that this Fair prefers doilies to be mounted, so my mom cut out some cardboard and re-blocked the doily for competition...and unfortunately will have to un-do all that work before the next Fair!

She is so great!!! XOXO Mom!

The red ribbon was for the mobile, which was in an "other than mentioned" needlework category and lost to something I can't remember (mom told me) but I'm sure was really great. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of that right now.

I was also really glad to see that someone else had entered some tatting this year!! The category was new at this fair last year because two years ago I wanted to enter some tatting but there was no tatting category...but then they created the category the following year! Last year I was the only entrant, but you can see that someone else entered in the first fair photo above (on the white plate.)

Yay! Tatting is picking up in Southern Iowa! :)