Return of the BLOG!!!!

Hello, everyone! This post is actually from Mid-March. I keep falling off the planet and then jumping back on. I hope to stick around for a while now.

It has been so long since I've been on, I have done quite a bit of catch up reading today and I'm still not current on the tatting blogs I follow.  Ugh.

I have been tatting though. Since I am going to attempt to condense two and half months in this post, please fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

As I mentioned in my pre-Christmas post, my husband ordered a stack of pattern books for me from amazon (yes, I chose them) and they all arrived between Christmas and New Years!

I was so excited. And then...so overwhelmed. I didn't even know where to start. Has this happened to you?

Since I am part of an Irish-American quilting group (they sew, I tat), I decided to start with the Celtic Tatting book and start at the beginning. I completed the Celtic Snowflake in Aunt Lydia's size 10 white.

I see that the hardest thing for me is going to be getting the correct tension in the chains in order to weave them. I am also having to make longer chains which is a bit of a hassle. I suppose it's a learning curve.

I took a bit of time off for extracurriculars while my husband was home over the holidays and that kept me away from the tatting a bit. I also decided to focus on a few resolutions and that has been time consuming. Getting organized is never an easy process. Obtaining a storage unit definitely greases the wheels. As I feel that the home is more under control, the tatting increases. Odd?

I continued work on the baby bonnet and then lost the pattern. I haven't reprinted it yet and my heart's not in it. I will get back to it.

I continued working on my shamrock pendant for the quilting group and almost have it to the point where I feel comfortable selling them.  Soon, hopefully...

One of the quilters brought in a magazine called Needle Pulling Thread which had a needle tatting pattern. I have been able to translate it to shuttle and am working on it. When I have something to show for that, I will put it up with due credit. Since I only work at it when I am at the center, I can alternate between it and the shamrock pendant to keep things interesting.

I had wanted to do Jane's TIAS (I still hope to) but was never able to start it.

This past weekend was a big push for me. My husband had to travel to Florida and I joined him for a few days. That meant time alone to tat on the plane and time during his conference when I could relax and tat some more. Tatting at the airport is always fun. Mostly on the return flight so my husband was a witness. We hit the airport almost four hours early for our flight. As I sat there tatting a woman came over and said she had been watching me and was just going to be upfront and nosy about it. I explained what I was doing. She oohed and ahhed and went back to her seat after a while. I was pretty happy.

I overheard a woman whispering to her husband about me while they stood in line to board, so I caught her eye and quickly spread the good word again. I was even happier.

I saw two women a few feet watching me intently and I motioned that I would just come to them. So I did. One actually knew what I was doing, she had seen her mother tatting. Yay!!!

I got back to my seat and my husband told me he really loved that I was so passionate about my craft. He seemed proud.

I continued to tat until we got on the plane. I have found on the flight out that if I fold my pattern just right, I can shove it under the hook for the tray table and tat in my lap with my own private bulletin board. As we waited for take-off, I heard from across the aisle "I think she's making a cross". I looked up to see two women watching me work. They smiled and I continued working. When I finished the cross, I held it up for them to see. It was so much fun! Since I had a bit of thread left on the shuttle, I made two small butterflies. I passed them to the women along with my business card and signed to them that they could keep them. Even with the background noise, I could hear how delighted they were. As we deplaned, they said they would get in touch with me. I have no idea if anything will come of it, but it felt so good to be an ambassador.

Next week I am doing my second market. Since I haven't made very much, I am hoping that I can whip up a few pieces in time. I am going with bookmarks and notecards mostly, and a few hairpins. Whenever I have small bits left on the shuttle, I have been making Birgit's angel and jumpy guy doodles or Lindsay Rogers' daisy. I have a few ideas for converting them into notecards. I have also been making the aforementioned cross to use for an Easter card. When I have my act together (HA!) I'll take a picture and post it.

I'm sure there are things I've made that I've omitted. I'll have pictures soon enough.

As it is, I'm so happy to be back and hope that my absence will be forgiven. I have missed you all very much.

Happy tatting!

Happy International Tatting Day!

Happy Tatting Day, everyone! Have a lovely day!

Much love to you all!

Yikes!

Lots going on. Lots to catch up on. Reading backlog of blogs and tatting like a madwoman. Longer post coming soon with various stories of the past few months, but this is what I am up to right this minute.

Oh, and I tried tatting with embroidery floss tonight, at least I think that's what it is.  It came in a bag of thread from one of my quilting friends. I don't know who made it because it has no label, but it's pretty interesting, very shiny and slippery.

That makes tatting with 30, 10, and whatever this stuff is in one day.

Tally ho!

Happy Tatting and Belated Happy Thanksgiving! (motif 1)

Once again, I have been busy with other endeavors and unable to post. And, once again, I have actually been tatting. I am so proud that I am starting my third (can you believe it?) round of 25 motif challenge.

I have been working on a bonnet for my friend's baby, but it is nowhere near finished. I will try to post a picture when it is.

I also made two crosses from Lindsay Rogers' Tatting Collage, both in Aunt Lydia size 10 white. One was put on the outside of the baptism card and the other was blessed by the priest and given as a gift to the baby. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures...

My Nimble Thimble group had their bazaar so I tatted up another Small Star for them to sell. Actually, I tatted two of them. One is a repeat of the green and white I have done in the past and the other is in all white, size 10.  Of course, I have no pictures to share. Drat! I plan on making more of them to give to family and friends for Christmas.  They did sell pretty quickly though.

Looking at my daughter in her cute little dress on Thanksgiving, I decided to make some hair pins to match in orange and brown, size 10. The large flower is from Lindsay Rogers' Tatting Collage, the smaller cupped center is something I came up with accidentally one day and really like.  She loved them and we even made it back home with one of them! (The other went AWOL in her cousin's room during preparations for a fashion show.)

 

I went on Amazon today and picked out some tatting books. My husband had been wondering what to get me for Christmas. I told him about my wishlist on Amazon and he told me later I can be expecting a couple of shipments in the next few days! The fact that he would buy these for me means so much to me. It means he understands that it is a big deal for me, not just a way for me to waste time. I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!

Never, Ever Sneeze!

A friend in my Nimble Thimble group brought in an old hankie with tatted edging to show me. I was very impressed with the work as it had a great deal of bare thread space and I rarely see that in modern patterns. I told her it was very special and made her promise she would never sneeze into it. She giggled and offered to let me keep it for a while. I politely declined and took a photo instead because I want to show it off to all of you, but don't want to be held responsible should anything untoward happen to it.

So, here it is, I think it's pretty cool:

Another woman in the group blessed me with a bag of thread she found in her stash. Mostly DMC 5 and 8 from what I can tell. Wheee!

The Lost Art and My Gratitude

I participated in my first market on Friday.

Most commonly heard remarks at market were:

"My grandmother/grandfather/mother/aunt (or insert other deceased relative here) used to tat."

"That is a lost art."

I had a really great time at the market. Not so much for the selling, because there was precious little of that, but for the conversations I had with people. Most just wanted to share their experience, reminisce about family. One said he fell asleep while his mother sat in his room tatting each night. Some expressed regret that they didn't learn, others said they had tried and failed. A few said that they had learned but let it go. A few more said they would like to learn.

For the better part of the six hours, I was sitting at my table tatting one thing or another. I would spy someone across the aisle, whispering to a friend, "That's tatting." I always did my best to catch their eye and grin at them. I let them know that I appreciated the fact that they recognized what I was doing. It usually started a nice conversation.

Quite a few people stopped and stared. I grinned at them as well. I invited them to watch, really, I don't mind. I made silly faces when a stitch failed to flip, I grimaced dramatically as I struggled with knots. I told one group that my friends (that would be you, gentle readers) and I were intent on dragging tatting kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century. I tried to make it accessible, not quite so mysterious. People seemed to take to it.

In all, I will take it as a success. My name and work are out there. I have already signed up for the next market in March. One positive note is that since things didn't sell, I have stock on hand. I also have the ability to plan better for my next outing.

I continue to be thankful for my friends and family and their support of my hobby gone crazy. They have been so encouraging about something they don't always understand.

I am also very thankful, to you, gentle readers, for your support. You understand what goes into it and your comments carry more weight because of it.

Busy fingers, 25 Tatted!

I have been doing quite a bit of tatting ahead of Friday's market. I've gotten most of my pieces tatted and only need findings for them to be complete. Somewhere along the line I stopped using a picot gauge, so if things look a little rough around the edges...well, practice, practice, practice...

In no particular order, for your consideration, I give you:

An assortment of variations on Dianna Stevens' Simple Bookmark in size 10 ecru, pink, white, and size 20 cream.


This one I messed up the chains (uniformly throughout); it looks a bit different from its companions. Size 10 white.

Another Janette Baker bookmark in size 10 white.

A bunch of flowers (there are actually about 30 of them) ready to be made into hair pins. Some are Leila's pattern, others are from Lindsay Rogers' book Tatting Collages. All tatted in size 10. I intend to layer them.

 

A few variations on the Kersti's Stumpy Bookmark in size 10 pink and white.

 



And lastly the heart I made for Aunt Maryann. It is Birgit's Celtic Heart in Southmaid variegated pink and Coats ecru, both size 10. (I messed up on the chain at the top, but I think I'll just stick with it.)

If I don't count the flowers, this puts me at 25 again!!!!