Learning Curve

I have a lot to learn...and I am a slow learner!
This was my first batch of hand-dyed thread, so I had never tried to persuade thread to cease being a skein and become a neat manageable ball. Did I check what others had done, or look on Google or yarn websites? None of these things, I launched straight into the silky stuff and within twenty minutes I had a tangle that took me two hours to sort out! Pamela warned me that I needed at least fifty yards to complete Beatrice, but I had started already. All my friends suggested it was a pattern that needed oodles of concentration, but despite that I just keep tatting in odd five minutes at work and then making mistakes... I was in the middle of this ring when a women turned up to demand that I look at her mother's toenails, by the time I had listened to her harangueing me for ten minutes about how disgraceful it was that her mother had become incontinent, and we were doing nothing about it, it was time for the evening meal and all that entails! (It is so hot here, and definately not wheelchair pushing weather)
Having said that, this thread is extremely forgiving, and I have unpicked some (but not all) of my mistakes, and I shall get some more, and finish the doiley come hell or high water or nagging relatives, and you will all get to admire it! (yes, you will!)

In Black and White, and now In Colour!

I was doing a little blackwork, slowly advancing on my sampler, when the post arrived. I had a letter from America, which surprised me, I don't really know anyone from there, but when I opened it....it was my threads from Sherry! I had assumed they would come from Seoul, but obviously she has some arrangement for the delivery with US mail.

Anyway, the threads are beautiful and I am afraid that the photo won't do them justice. I am already starting to unwind the silk Peach Pandorea, with the idea to use it for the Beatrice doiley! It is size 20, which is something of a departure for me, but I feel sure it will make a stunning combination. I can't wait to get tatting, but also wanted to share my delight with my fellow enthusiasts.

Big thank you Sherry!

Pretty or pants

For those readers who aren't english 'pants' is a word for 'rubbish' or 'crap'! I have made a couple more snowflakes and at the same time as working my way through Jon's book I am also working my way through a box of DMC dentelles threads that I bought on e-bay. Variegated threads can be really effective sometimes but others they just look like vomit! This first one is called "Spring Blossom" and I thought I would choose a colour to fit the vernal theme. I don't think it has worked that well.

This one is called Astral, and I think the colour works better on this one.

Another problem for me is deciding how much thread to wind on the shuttles...no-one likes to waste thread, but joining two rings from the end is also really frustrating. For Astral I wound three metres onto shuttle 1 and 8 metres onto shuttle 2, this was too much, 1.5 and 7 would probably have been ample. Spring Blossom I forgot to note down, but it was just short on the last round and I had to join.

B2B doiley 4th round

I hadn't counted properly, and this is actually the fourth round, it has taken ages and a load of thread! Now it is a bit ruffleyat the edge, perhaps that will sort out with the next row, but I am going to have a pause as it is quite similar to this row and I feel like a break, time for another snowflake I think.

By the way, I love the blog roll feature and am planning to add lots more as I like the way they show the latest update, but I haven't yet, time factors causing delay.

Weird thing

I received a package in the post this morning...and I only vaguely remembered ordering it, It came from Roseground and I ordered it very late one night last week, after wandering around the tatting blogs.
So I opened my little box, wondering what I had, in my tired, and possibly slightly inebriated state, bought...
Iris Niebach's Tatting Doilies, a green "Sew Mate" shuttle and a pretty hand turned hook. This rang a bell and I started looking back, and found this entry from Dianne! I think Beatrice must have impressed me more than I was aware!
Now, I keep looking at Sherry's new silk threads...
Having said that I am only half way through with the next round on my current doiley, I ran out of thread which I couldn't believe, but I have a new shuttle attached now. Not a scrap of blu-tack in the house when it happened, a lack which I have remedied for next time.

Learning, and back to basics

I have found blogging an excellent stimulus for learning and improving my work. Recently I bought Jon's book of snowflake patterns, and it has been a good way to learn and practise split rings and two shuttle work. These three are my first attempts.


I am also doing a back to basics doily, shuttle and ball, size 50 DMC cordonnet, from the french tatting book. I have only done two rows so far, and there are five, I wonder if I will ever complete it.

Help!

I was looking at this and I couldn't think how I would use a double shuttle. Can anyone explain how they work?

Baby bootees finished

At last I have finished these, even though they aren't quite as I would like...I would change the pattern of the flower. I liked the bootees that Sharon made.

A New Book

I bought this book a week ago, via Amazon.fr and I have to say I can't really recommend it. It suggests it's a book for beginners, and indeed it has five pages of instructions, but I couldn't really say if they were easy to follow, being as I know that bit. Then there are some patterns, which are in general very pretty, but then we hit the problems. On some patterns there isn't even a stitch count on the diagram, let alone a suggestion of where to start or what order you should tat. There isn't much on whether you should use one or two shuttles or any other techniques.

Here are a couple of stars from a very pretty doiley pattern called Rose
one done with me discovering after I had begun that I should have wound two shuttles in CTM and managing by using the SLT. Then, serendipity, as Jon showed how to do self-closing mock rings, and so I tried that as an alternative method. I think it was successful and am not even sure now which is which.
The bootees are coming along slowly, one is finished and one is on the third row, but I am running out of thread! Who else struggles to make their thread last, like driving home really fast before the petrol runs out!
Also, does anyone have time to explain how to get an E-Tatters banner on this page? I see others have done it, but have no idea where to start!

Black bootees

I have put a picture of progress on my black baby bootee on my other blog
There are quite a lot of other photos and the tatting is somewhere in the middle, so it's not for those in a hurry!

Latest work

I haven't been posting, because it's difficult to scan on my computer and I have to use the one belonging to the man I live with. He doesn't mind that much, but he often seems to be using it himself.
Anyway, here are a few bits from the previous month.
First, a lilac square from Mary Konior's book.



A little brown square from A Tatter's Workbook.


This was the beginning of a square from Iris' book, but I didn't like the colour of the thread...sort of bilious, I felt, so I gave up.

And then I discovered that the man's eldest son and his girlfriend are expecting a baby, so I decided to have a go at the bootees as shown by Pamela...not knowing what sex the offspring might be I chose black, well, it goes with everything doesn't it? Mmm, I have been getting a lot of "Black is not really suitable for babies" feedback, but as I am bound to make too many mistakes I am carrying on regardless, this will just be a prototype.

You're so square

This is my attempt at one of the squares from Iris Niebach's booklet Tatting Together, Square Motifs. I found it quite challenging, and this is a long way from being right, but I felt it was worth showing. Sometimes, bad tatting is as interesting as good... My excuse is that it was mostly done while on night-duty, which can be a jelly brain time. (Dealing with drunken phone calls at 2 am can be a bit distracting to the real business in hand!)

Music from Buddy Holly!

another square

I'm not sure that this merits a post, but just to let you know I'm still here, and still, albeit slowly, tatting. Here are the previous patterns joined to make a square. I did as usual make a mistake...my excuse was that I waiting to be interrogated by the gendarmes after a weekend on night duty...but I'm certainly not going to start again!

Pink square

This square is the same as Mrs. John did, but on one corner I put in one too many picots. I am showing it, because I enjoy looking and comparing different versions of the same pattern. This is Valdani 50 thread, precious pansies.

Some work and another book review

I have been very tied up in boring work and not boring but rather stressful studying. My tatting has suffered somewhat, with loads of mistakes.




This is an example; David was in England for Christmas and brought home a load of handkerchieves that his mother had given him. My guess is she'd had them in a cupboard since the '70's as they were in really tacky colours, but one just matched a ball of variegated DMC special dentelles. I decided to make an edging for it, though what anyone would want with such a thing as a funky purple lace edged man's hanky... Anyway I haven't got very far, I keep making mistakes! (So the problem of what to do with it is in the distance for the moment!)


Another pattern I am working on is this one from Mary Konior's book. It requires aboout 16 motifs to be joined together, and the first motif was completely disasterous, but I have at last achieved two...I'll let you know if I manage to get any further.



I wanted to talk about another book, A Tatter's Workbook. The patterns are not my favourites, but I love her use of colour in her designs. It's a book I enjoy looking at more than working from, but it is always interesting to try the patterns, because it can be quite a puzzle between the words and the picture to work it all out! Here's a sample page, at random. You can see more if you click the link.

My book review

I have been wondering whether to buy this book for ages. On one hand it has a very good review by Gina Buchanan, but on the other I wasn't that keen on the cover picture. Well, never judge a book by it's cover, because this is a wonderful book, with patterns and tips for all levels of tatters. This picture shows a shuttle only edging called "curds and whey" which is so simple but really pretty, and also the flower motif from the front cover. The diagrammes are really well explained and there's a good variety, edgings, motifs, collars and doillies.
I have taken on an Open University course which will be taking up a lot of my time, none-the-less I feel that this book will keep me inspired to do a little bit of tatting whatever the demands on my schedule.

Definitely gets five stars from me! (It was no longer available from Amazon, but if anyone is interested I found it at Handy Hands.)

Shuttle talk

I enjoyed reading Sharon's post about shuttles and so I thought I would show you mine.
I learnt back in 1974 with an Aero shuttle, but I didn't like it. I didn't like the noise the bobbin made as it was unwound and then it was fiddly when it needed to be rewound for the chain. My next shuttle was a Milward shuttle which I think must be at my ex-husband's house as I haven't been able to find it. I liked that much better...but as I have said, tatting was laid aside while I trained as a nurse, had children, moved to France etc. Despite this I bought three shuttles in a little case from an antique market in Bath in the early eighties. I was pleased because the seller didn't know what they were for, so they were pretty cheap. They are in the bottom right of the picture, and one is metal, but the other two are made of bone or ivory. I have never used them, though I did use the hook that came with them. When I became interested again I found a packet of two plastic shuttles very cheap on a market stall in Sarlat. They would be better if I took the time to sand them down as they are very poorly finished, and have seams that catch on the thread. (bottom middle) I then decided to splash out on the pack from Clover, via internet, I think from Snowgoose, when I was buying materials for bobbin lace, and have never regretted it. I find them easy to wind, easy to use and I love the cheerful colours. The little pick end means I can tat with impunity on the most paranoid of airlines, and so I would give 5/5 to these ones.
The tortoiseshell plastic and blue plastic ones are made by Innox. The tortoiseshell are nice to work with, but a pain to wind. The blue is ok, but I bought it in Guerande with my daughter so I keep it for that.
The bone shuttle top left is for celtic tatting, it's from Handy Hands, and the other shuttle bottom right is from David Reed Smith. I like this one, which is reasonable to wind and holds lots of thread, but I should have ordered a second one as I like to use matching shuttles. I made sure not to make the same mistake with the Shuttle Shop!
You should click on the picture to see the shuttles clearly, and the hooks are from David Reed Smith, Lyn Morton, and the third was made by my partner from an old bobbin and a crochet hook.

Be still my beating heart!

My christmas present to myself this year was this pair of beautiful shuttles. They are from the shuttle shop.
My first project with them was Sadie's heart from Teri Dusenbury's site, and it has proved quite a complicated pattern, I have had to restart twice and even now there are a couple of mistakes I have ignored. Originally it was for a colleague who retires on the 31st January and who collects hearts, but I think I will have to start again. I'm not sure about my choice of thread, perhaps a solid colour would be less distracting?
Edit: I am posting the finished heart.

Overflowing

This is the cork board, where I usually pin up my finished work, I think I will have to start a new one!

Two more bits...

I decided to see how it would look if I made three more squares, and it worked quite well...one mistake right at the end where I ran out of thread just on the last corner and then forgot to join the ring. Ends not hidden yet.
The snowflake is from the german book, and was designed to fit around an easter egg, but as soon as I saw it I wanted to do it in blue and yellow, I'm not sure why.