Some silk fragments, and more pictures from Melbourne

This was a typical lacy building in the city.

I love how they have decorated these trees, using vintage bits of doilies, and it gives me ideas of how I could use my box of tatted bits...


This is a rather poor scan of some of the silk tatted into stuff. I am also working on a white collar, but it keeps twisting into a spiral, I will have to see how it works when I add in the second row.
I am guessing the silk works out at around 40 or 50 size. The multi coloured bookmark is in 100 cotton from Gütermann, Rosie said it looked as if it had been commissioned by Google!
Sorry for the mess of ends, especially as I have new needles and some excellent needle threaders, so no excuse not to get it all perfect!

Tatting in Melbourne

This beautiful tatting was displayed in a shop in Melbourne. I went in there to buy a pack of clover shuttles, not because I needed them, but because if I see shuttles anywhere I collect them. The girl working in the shop, (?Jones? in Collins Street) was very friendly and I was able to show her my tatting, because she is taking lessons with the lady who did this work.



I also found a shop selling silks, and I went in to look at the different materials. There were some reels of thread, in bright colours, and as I have enjoyed tatting with LadyShuttleMaker's silk I decided to risk buying a reel and see if it would work. It isn't the easiest thread to use, but I love the result. My computer is downstairs so I can't scan the motifs that I have done so far, but I will as soon as I can.

I have finished Cornelia

I am so pleased, I finished Cornelia this morning. I had just enough thread.

Time isn't the only thing that is running out!

I am due to go to Australia on the 8th November, to spend some time with my eldest daughter. The travelling time is 36 + hours from when I leave home on Sunday lunchtime to arriving on Tuesday morning in Melbourne, and obviously much of my awake time I would like to be tatting, while I listen to my Mp3 player. But which pattern, which thread? I haven't made my mind up at all yet.


Cornelia is making slow progress, and I would really like to finish it before I leave, as there isn't enough work to last for a whole journey. I am a tad worried that I won't have enough thread to finish, again. I had thought two skeins would be plenty, after the business with Beatrice, but of course Cornelia is a bigger doily. I would recommend the David Reed Smith shuttles for work like this, my one holds the most thread of any of my shuttles while at the same time being light and maniable.


This is another of the Myra Piper designs in black. Not finished or blocked, but quite pretty, nonetheless. Perhaps I should stick with several small designs during the voyage, but then I would need a book of patterns....

I haven't done much tatting all through the summer, just a few motifs from the Myra Piper book kindly sent by Diane. This is the only one I can find at the moment, and it was made with some thread that was given after David came back from his mother's funeral. She had been a keen lacemaker, and tatter, but I think this wasn't tatting thread, it wasn't six ply.

Then I decided to make Cornelia, from Iris Niebach's book of doilies, in Sherry's lovely silk thread. This colour is Vickie's Lilacs. It has taken me a week to do the first quarter...it may not be finished as speedily as I would like, so I am showing the work in progress.

Holidays and Hobbies

This is just a thought...but I was listening to a radio programme about the way people like to take holidays that link with their hobby, and I thought that it would be fun if there were tatting holidays. I don't know if anyone would be interested, but I asked David if he would allow some tatters to come and stay a week in the gites, and he said that anytime between September and June would be ok. I wonder if anyone would be interested? Leave a comment or e-mail me if it sounds an interesting idea to you. (I know this bit of France isn't exactly lace-making territory, but if we all got together it could be fun?)

Hommage to Pamela and Jane

I was very impressed by this pattern from the first time I saw it...but felt it was much too complicated for me to attempt. If anyone else has been put off, then I encourage them to give it a try. I did not try to do two colours or add beads down the back, and I still managed to have the eye beads on the wrong shuttle but despite that I think he looks cute. The thread is an vintage reel, probably about a 60, as my little fellow measures 4 inches long. The beads were a couple of those little seed ones from my daughter's beading box. The pattern is from Jane's site, (not the naughty one!) and is called Pamela's gecko. On Pamela's page you can see her collection of geckos, which are truly brilliant, but if like me you were afraid to try then don't be. You do have to follow the pattern step by step, at no point can you just "wing it", or you'll find yourself unpicking, but otherwise it's quite easy.

lace and kittens

This is a picture of my first attempt at Honiton Lace. I bought 36 bobbins on ebay..(oh, what a tempting place that is...I have just bought myself Mary Konior's Tatting in Lace for £5.52) and so I attempted the first two practice strips from Suzanne Thompson's Introduction to Honiton Lace. The threads are very fine, 120 perhaps, and I pulled the first strip to bits as I pulled the pins out. :(

For the link...it's now in my blog list under "life, death and what not to wear..." but I'm afraid the kittens still haven't opened their eyes yet, they obviously haven't read my particular cat care manual which suggests a week as the correct time.

Missing link

I took down the link to my live journal a while back, because I didn't think it was very useful, but if anyone was interested in my other life please let me know and I will put it back. Todays entry for example, contains kittens! (Yes, not that exciting, really)

Comfort tatting

I should have included this motif in the last post, I did it to try Yarnplayer's Ocean deep HDT. It is always difficult to find the right motif to show the changing colours to their best advantage. This is Masquerade from Mary Konior's book "Tatting with Visual Patterns".
Then I returned to my comfort zone of size 80 thread, and did a snowflake from Jon's book. This one is Astral, done in Tatskool's indigo and Rainbow Bright. Yes, I do need to spend some time finishing the ends, I will, I promise!



My final offering is Heart's Desire by Susan Fuller which I had seen on Mike's blog and Pamela's, but I couldn't find the pattern. I at last found it on a side link chez Tatting Chic. Again Rainbow Bright, this time paired with another favourite thread, Rainforest, by LadyShuttleMaker.

Slow progress

It is a strange thing how hard it can be to tat, and in all the time since my last post I have only done a third round on "Flowery meadow" and had a go at the spinning wheel pattern. I don't think my tatting abilities are flattered by the thicker thread, but it has been interesting to see the difference. The HDT is Yarnplayer's Fern, and it is lovely...it is just that my work is not very good when you can see the details!

Trying the new thread

New thread, new shuttle...old pattern. I thought I would have another go at Flowery Meadow from Blomqvist and Perrson only this time I have managed the second row without a mistake.

Extreme Tatting

Once I had received my goodies I was keen to finish this square from the Iris Niebach book and start trying out the new threads and shuttles.

So I tatted this despite loads of interruptions and distractions; from the dogs, who are both on heat, and Raphaël who is on holiday and therefore rather more demanding than usual, the cats, one of whom has tummy trouble, plus various visitors and phone calls. I am amazed, it's not top quality but I don't think I've actually made a mistake, and goodness knows it's quite a complex pattern.

Amazing surprise

When Diane began her bobbin lace I offered to send her some pattern plastic, and she offered to send me some different threads, which was really kind. I didn't expect this incredibly generous parcel of goodies! but I am really pleased to receive them. There are three skeins of Yarnplayer's beautiful HDT, which is a nouveauté for me, and I am looking forward to trying them. There are two, yes two, new lacis shuttles and a whole ball of Lizbeth thread, plus whole balls of Coats and Clark's in my favourite size 80, plus a ball of DMC special dentelles in an Easter shade of yellow. The tatting book is by Myra Piper, and is full of pretty snowflake patterns. I count myself very lucky to have such a kind and generous friend! Big thank you, Diane.

New shuttle and an edging

This edging has taken me ages because I have been caught up with work and studying, but I am showing it, plus my latest shuttle, because TattingChic asked me to. Yes, I too was wooed by the beauty of this delightful shuttle from Shuttle Shop. It is wound with Tatskool's Rainbow Bright HDT in size 80 and I plan to continue with another pattern from a previously unused book. The edging is from "Tatted Handkerchiefs" by Kirstine and Inge Lise Nikolajsen and I cheated by making it just big enough to decorate a photo frame or a greetings card. A whole handkerchief would have taken me too long....lol!

Sharon has asked me what makes me inspired about a pattern and what turns me off.

I have given quite a bit of thought to this...

1, I like it to look "lacy"

2, I like symmetry and repeats.

3, I am not so keen on figurative stuff, not for me butterflies or animals.

4, I like a challenge...yes Hen and Chicks is pretty, but I do want something that makes me have to think, a bit anyway!

Celtic motif

This is from Rosemarie Peel's book "Tatting for Pleasure" and is done in King Tut quilting thread lapis lazuli.

By the way, I am not pleased with the way my scanner scans tatting...I turn the brightness down and increase the resolution, but it still seems to come out all shiny. Any suggestions?

Rehab tatting and Affluenza

I have been exercising my wrist with a few oddments. Firstly I had a go at clunies or point d'espirit. It had been difficult with bobbins to get them even and the same size...and my tatted ones are no better!
I finished off a couple of shuttles with Mary Konior's "curds and whey" in 100 gutermann and 80 DMC.
I used Pamela's Coral Reef for this motif based on triangles and split rings from the Ring of Tatters magazine.

I had been listening to a programme about "Affluenza" the disease of the Western World, where we want more than we need, and we buy stuff and it makes us unhappy...and I got to thinking about tatting books I have bought, but never done a pattern from. I decided that 2009 would see a change, and so this is a motif from a book I haven't used before. Frivolité by Bernadette Baldelli.

Don't buy it! It's not much good, the patterns aren't very inspiring and the instructions aren't very illuminating either. This was patterned to be worked in 4 rounds, but with a split ring and my first ever split chain I managed it in one go.

I hope the next book is better!

Pink Lace

I have decided to give up on my pink lace sample...I needed to undo quite a bit of it because I had a pair in the wrong place, and as I return to work on Monday I knew it wasn't going to happen!
I am quite pleased to have got this far, and I have learnt how to do footside much better, and roseground.
The thread was Valdani 50 colour precious pansies.
Now I have to relearn how to use my right hand, and it is painful, LOL!
My challenge for 2009 is to do Elisadusud's point d'esprit . These video lessons make it look quite simple!

Wrist advice

I wonder if any of you who has already broken their wrist may be able to offer some advice. My boss rang on Tuesday to ask if I could go back to work 10 days early, but I don't think I can legally as my sick note has the date marked on it. So I will have to make up from the first day back and work the first ten days non-stop. The thing is my wrist is still painful, so when the splint comes off how good will it be? Does the pain and stiffness wear off fairly quickly? When I look at the timetable they've set out for me I quail somewhat.

Having said that I wish you all a very happy and healthy new year, and look forward to seeing more of your beautiful tatting. (And thank you for all the comments and good wishes, which have been much appreciated.)

Tatting and bobbin lace

I didn't say, but actually my wrist was fractured in the fall and I have to wear a splint thing until mid January. I have tried to tat but it's frustrating, and painful. The b2b doiley was my project in England, and I managed to make several mistakes, but am too lazy to change them.

On the other hand I have been looking at my lace books and finally I prepared a pricking and twenty (yes, twenty!) pairs of bobbins to do a piece of lace.

It's a little bit clumsy, but I have done the cloth stitch squares and a little bit of roseground. I haven't managed the the two footsides very well, but plan to sort that even yet....

I have never had this many bobbins, it's quite a jumble. I should be doing half stitch for the next section, but I am tempted to do cloth stitch, because then the bobbins stay in pairs, and I use the fact that they have matching spangles to help me.

No tatting for me, for a few days anyhow.

I have been over to the UK for a week to visit my mother. While I was there we went to Honiton, because I wanted to visit the Lace Museum...but it was shut for the winter.


I did find a book on Honiton Lace, plus I bought a 2nd hand copy of the Guild of Lace Magazine describing a visit to nearby Killerton House, and a really good booklet on Torchon Lace. The next day though I put my back out, and was struggling to do anything. The voyage home on Friday, with me having to drive the hire car to the airport, and then sit in the plane, and then drive my car home was all very painful. Then...this morning I was filling the car with fuel, (or trying to) and I fell over! So stupid! I lay there on the forecourt in the dark and rain and diesel puddles and wondered if I was ever going to be able to get up again, but then I pulled myself together, stood up, and surveyed the damage. My glasses were smashed, and my wrist hurt, and also my knees, and my back was no better for the incident but that was all. I was allowed home early from work, and slept all afternoon, and I feel much better, but until I get some new glasses, and my wrist improves I can't do much lace, or even read very well.

As you can see, it has done nothing for my looks either. Luckily David left for England on Saturday, or people might think we had had a disagreement!

Thoughts on groups

I really like the online tatting community, it's so friendly, encouraging and sympathetic. People only seem to have kind or helpful comments, and if anyone has a problem then there are always good samaritans who willingly provide the appropriate aid. I just wanted to say how much I enjoy being a part of it. :)
I also belong to the "Ring of Tatters" and have just received the Autumn Newsletter. I can recommend the group to all my tatting friends, in the latest issue there are articles by Jane and Linda, plus several interesting patterns and ideas, as well as an article on rings of all kinds.
I was trying out some ideas with Sherry's beautiful silk threads...I wanted to make a pattern from Anne Orr with three shuttles, but it didn't work. The second row would not lie flat, so I cut it off, and decided to try a simple pattern in one colour from the same book. I also tried some of the simple shuttle motifs from the newsletter. They are designed to be done with two shuttles and linked together with split rings, and are both simple and effective.

Some more things

I have managed to complete Beatrice after some invaluable help from Sherry, who found a spare length of "Peach Pandeora" thread. Here it is, but I am having trouble with my scanner, and the first scan made a file too big to transfer.

I then wanted to try the silk thread, "Royalty", so I made Judith, again following one I had seen on Diane's page.

Finally, this motif, from Blomqvist and Persson's book, is not made in Rainbow Bright! The trouble with HDT is that it comes in finite quantities, and so I have become rather careful, not wanting to waste it. This thread is an ordinary machine embroidery thread from Gutermann, and the colours are not so bright, or so well blended. Still I wanted to see how it would look in this classic motif. It is very small, I am guessing the thread to be approx size 100, and when I miscounted it was nearly impossible to undo, so I didn't bother!

Rainforest things

I have after a lot of struggling finished my rainforest dragon. It has a few mistakes, but it is my first piece of figurative work, and I am quite pleased with the way it looks.

With the left over rainforest thread I made "Aladdin" with rainbow bright for the second row, in the same way as Pamela did.

Names

I have tried to use people's names in my blog list...I like real names, and faces, and feel uncomfortable when bloggers are too selective with the information they choose to share...but then I realised that my own name might seem like a pseudonym.
I was christened (yes, once upon a time I was a christian!) Katherine Eirlys David, and as Eirlys is Welsh for Snowdrop, (my father was Welsh) my name was "shortened" to Snowy. In France I am called Katherine or Kate, because Snowy contains too many unfamiliar sounds (and no, Tintin's dog is not called Snowy in France, but Milou, I tried that already!)
Otherwise my friends all call me Snowy, and while I don't think it particularly suits me, (when I was at school a friend asked me if it was because I looked like a rabbit...) I am not sure that I can think of an alternative, so there we go.
My brother's name is Morgan, usually shortened to Morg....one of his friends at university once asked me "Is he called Morgue because he's such a miserable bastard?"
Typical sisterly solidarity, I answered "Yes"!
If anyone doesn't like being "named" for their blog, please contact me, and I'll change it.

Rainbow Snowflake

I wanted to try Pamela's challenge of a rainbow snowflake, so I chose a pattern in Jon's book called Pirouette, and had a go. I hate this scanner because the colours are so much brighter in real life, but I hope you get an idea. It was so clever the way the colour repeat just did one spoke of the snowflake each time. I missed a chain in the last spoke, (grrr!) but I am so pleased with this otherwise.

Pamela's rainbow

Here on my desk is a skein of Pamela's rainbow thread which arrived today. With it was a sample of Coral Reef, and so now I have a snowflake to make, as well as a dragon. I had better start winding my shuttles! ps, the Gutermann is there as well as various other bits and pieces.

Green doodles

I have been playing with Sherry's "rainforest", with the idea of making one of Anne's dragons, but first I had to learn Single Shuttle Split Rings. That was kind of fiddly.
I decided I had understood enough to start, but then made a mistake on the stitch count, and then the thread snapped when I was pulling the ring tight. I wonder if anyone else has the problem of gaps between the rings, I think I have pulled up close but by the time the ring is pulled tight there is a big space.



I decided to abandon the dragon for the moment and see how it would look to combine the "rainforest" with a machine embroidery thread, which seems much finer, so I had a go at an edging from Mary Konior's book. I don't think it can be the different sizes that causes it to curve like that, but any way I have finished the shuttle, and I certainly like the colour combination.

You need really to click and enlarge the photo, the rainforest is 80, and the machine thread is Gutermann Sulky, probably about 100.

(By the way I used Tattingchic's method for thread winding, putting a cushion inside the skein, and it worked really well, despite interruptions from phone and dogs!)

Bookmark

Raphael is a boarder this year at a school in Sarlat. As in all French schools there are no lessons on Wednesday afternoons as this is when they are meant to learn about God(s). Very few children actually do so, and if I am not actually working I go and take him out for the afternoon, to worship his favorite god, Manon. We usually buy him the latest book in the Manga series that he's following and then just wander about looking at the shops and then after sitting in a café for a chocolat chaud or an ice cream depending on the weather, we return in time for evening etude. It was in this way I discovered a little shop selling patchwork and embroidery supplies, and I ended up buying some quilting or embroidery threads. They aren't perfect for tatting, a little too fluffy, but the colours are pretty, and here is Mary Konior's Black Magic done in blues. I am not sure if this reminds me more of tempered steel or a forgotten yoghurt discovered under a teenager's bed, but either way it's an interesting mix of pinks and blues. My scanner doesn't do it justice.

Poor Beatrice, and hearts

Beatrice is unlikely to be finished, I have all but run out of thread, and stupidly I didn't buy any more at the time, and now there isn't any. Still, that's ok, because this doily reminds me of another Beatrice, my sad little princess in a chateau. At the time I was caring for her she was aged 38, but an attack of measles when only 18 months had left her severely mentally handicapped and suffering from rather unstable epilepsy.

It was my job to wash and dress her each day, and set up her feeding pump, and then in the evening I would put her to bed. She had been cared for by her mother until she had died of cancer and now she was the responsibility of her father. I personally felt that she'd have been happier in an institution, but he wouldn't hear of it, so poor Bea spent day after day alone in the kitchen of the chateau, like some poor imprisoned princess in a fairy tale. I quit that job in 2002, but I often think of her, and how her face would light up as I let myself in, and this doiley seems appropriate in it's incompletion...oh well, that's my excuse anyway.

The second heart is off the pillow, and I probably ought to have undone and remade it, because by the end I had a clearer idea of how it should work, but I couldn't face it! I won't wait so long before doing some more bobbin stuff, and so the next trial should be a little better. (should be, lol)

This is what it looks like when you put the two together, and that was the original design...to be used for a greeting card! It would have to be for someone very special for all that work! I don't think I possess that much emotion...I don't really do love, although I do quite like some people...but enough for a card like this, hmmm I think not!

Torchon heart, but not right...

You will need to click on these photos to see the problem, but I have definately got some threads crossed. The bobbins were wound with matching spangles, but they don't all match any more.
I am showing this so you can see how it works, it's a sort of weaving, with the weight of the bobbins providing the tension. The fans are done in cloth stitch which is quite simple, two workers weaving in and out of the passives. The ground stitch is more complicated, with more pins, and I get lost knowing which pairs to do next. Practice helps, and I am ploughing on, because I hope to get round and then try again.
Helpful suggestions are welcome.

Bobbin Lace Heart

This is from a book Lace for Children of All Ages, and is my first attempt at something other than bookmarks or edgings. OK, it's full of mistakes, but I'm pleased with it, and plan to try another one, a little more complicated, very soon!

HDT help

Last time I unravelled a skein of hand dyed thread I ended up with a tangle that took me hours to sort out. Before I try again has anyone got any helpful suggestions as to how to go about it?
Thanks in advance.