Cadeaux!

 The other day I received a little package in the post from the generous and inspiring Fox. She sent me some of the Sulky rayon thread that you can see in the photo, plus all those buttons, and four metal findings or "doodads". There was also an antique bone shuttle!  You can see it peeping out of my old shuttle case. :)

 I have watched fascinated as others have decorated their doodads, and long wanted to try my hand at making something. I found some pretty beads and some matching thread, however you can see it hasn't really worked. The colours aren't contrasting, so that the beads are invisible, also I should have added some beads to the thread beforehand...So next stage will require me to cut it off and try again with a different thread, or different beads. The little scrap in turquoise is me trying the rayon. It is pretty, but sad that once tatted it looses it's shine to a certain extent. I am still working on that motif...I will show it once I have finished it.

Meantime on the hanky edging I have run out of thread! A whole spool of DMC 80 in a single edging, luckily I can easily get more as I bought it from my friend's shop, and I know she will keep me some till I can get in.

Snowflake doily

Remember this bookmark? I knew I had used this colour combination before! Anyway, round three is finished, and I will try to start round four this evening.

Not as good as Fox's

So, I set off to have a go at the doily from Reneluk, using a similar set of colours as Fox.
I am afraid it has worked out a pale imitation!
I wonder if everyone has the same memory problem as I do...I try to memorise a pattern by the time I have done one or two repeats...so that I can carry some WIPs around with me, and do a few stitches when I have a moment, but I never carry the patterns. Most of the time it's fine, but then I will find I have forgotten the stitch count...or remembered it wrong. Both my edging and this pattern have suffered from poor memory syndrome, so I am wondering now if this round will meet up as it should do after the next few repeats. Oh, well, watch this space.

Finished!

 Now I can start the Renulek tat-a-long. The hanky edging has stagnated a bit, I have twelve repeats and a corner still to do. :(
Anyway I wound my shuttles last night, with similar colours to Fox, and I will try to get the first two rounds done this weekend.

Tatting..... a long way behind

I am trying to tat-a-long with the Norma Benporath doily, however I am probably the slowest one on the challenge. Last night I finally completed the third round. The hanky edging is only just over halfway, so I won't put a photo as yet. Next time, which will probably a month away!

Tatting along

This is my edging, which grows but slowly, and I did want to have at least two corners done by next Wednesday, as I am teaching tatting in my friends shop, and she sells this thread. I hoped that if my edging looked pretty people might want to buy the thread to try at home... The thread is DMC 80 colour 820, and the pattern is from Tatted Handkerchiefs by Nikolajsen, from Akacia publishing. So here's hoping for a miracle this weekend!

And, this is Jon's Tat-Along pattern, which I do when the edging is making me sleepy! It is so pretty, and I am doing it in Oliver Twists, which is really quite fine thread. My previous doily/motif in the turquoise thread is waiting for it's third row, however my very naughty puppy climbed up and grabbed my tatting bag off the printer while I was out and chewed the turquoise thread, I now have a pile of short lengths but will I be able to find some longer bits for the final round?

Naughty puppy

Chewed up thread.

My "Go to" pattern

 Sharon asked us what we would choose as our most frequent or favourite pattern that we always return to, and what it is that makes it our choice.

This pattern from the Blomqvist and Persson book Tatting Patterns is the one I would choose. It shows off variegated threads like a dream. This is a machine embroidery thread from Gütermann, very fine. It is a quick pattern, and yet I feel it has a light lacy look that is very satisfying. I often use it to try new threads, as I have lots of old samples to compare them to, like a tension sample in knitting.

 This is Yarnplayer's Tourmaline, size 80.

These were made using Valdani 50

The green is Gütermann Sulky, the navy is Caen lace thrad.

Tatskool's beautiful daffodils, in size 80.

Some tatting

I read a post somewhere about photographing tatting, in an attempt to get better quality in the colours and so on, so these two pieces have photographed rather than scanned. The first piece is from Suzanne Schwenke's book, and isn't a snowflake but appears in the Christmas section. There is an optional third row...I haven't made my mind up on that one for the moment. The thread is Oliver Twists, from the Mediterranean collection...size approx = slightly smaller than DMC 80 

This is a dragon from Anne Bruvold's much loved Minor Norwegian Dragon pattern. The thread is Lizbeth size 20 colour Springtime. I am afraid the photo hasn't come close to the real colour, so disappointing. I am now working on an edging, in DMC 80, but there isn't enough to show yet. I did finish the Beatrice doily, but gave it to a friend before I thought to take a picture...hey ho, one doily looks much like another!

Elderly canine + new technique = ? Youthful canine + shuttle = disaster.

 I haven't been doing much tatting,( my day to day life  has continued on my other blog) but I do occasionally add a motif to my "Yes-u-can" doily. No ends have been sewn in though for a while!

 This is an experiment from my latest book on tatting, where you flip one row and don't the next...I think it looks interesting but I ran out of thread.

 I began a square from Iris's book, but haven't finished it yet. :( Much unfinished work at the moment isn't there?

 This was an experiment to try my new way of tatting, you see I learnt from a book in 1973, and never saw anyone tat until recently. Thanks to the internet I realised that my method was slow and clumsy compared to what other tatters did...thank you Diane, Tattyhead, and Yarnplayer for enabling me to see how I could improve. (Amongst others, who I didn't note down.)
So slowly I picked up that graceful movement and sped up. This motif was done after looking at the pansy motif, it's on the same page of the Saunders Tatting book. The thread was a free sample from Roseground, Elizabeth 40, and I don't like the colour at all, however the thread itself tats beautifully and I will be buying some next order I put in...but not this colour!

 The reason I had put in an order was because a friend asked me to teach tatting in her shop. She was able to find Clover shuttles but not the Elizabeth threads. I thought it might be hard to learn on thread that is too fine so I ordered a couple of colours to help potential students get started. This was one, Springtime, I think it's really pretty.

Then I had sudden urge to try an Iris doily with the hideous thread, so I wound my shuttle and started. I left it on the table overnight, and my naughty puppy, and my naughty kittens played with the contents of my bag. :(

My beautiful dragon shuttle from Shuttle Shop was broken, and I had to rewind another.

Ulla's square

 This was a difficult pattern, indeed! My first attempt came to a rapid end when I realised I had gone backwards and could go no further.

This second attempt I did manage to go all the way round, but the centre is a right mess! I definately need to try again, with a clearer thought about how to do the middle. I am grateful to Fox and Tatting Fool, who had already gone before, because it reassured me to see that I wasn't the only tatter to get into difficulty with this pattern. The scanner is the one at work, and I have a few problems with that, too.

Motif in pink and blue

I am very disappointed with this scan, the threads are Tatskool's Raspberry sorbet and the blue is from the Mediterranean selection of threads from Oliver Twists. The colours really go well, but you can't see how bright they are on this scan. :(
I finished the second square but somehow while chasing around France I lost the first one, so I couldn't join them together. I am not sure about them now...maybe I need to find a square motif that works well in two colours, because I have lots of beautiful HDT which would work well together. I will look at my Iris Niebach book of square motifs.

Things are happening

Life is as hectic as ever, here, and I wouldn't wish the nightmare of a 15 year old son on anyone! He has a motorbike now, so not only does he drive me mad when he is at home, but he scares me to death when he's out.
On top of that I have agreed to do some tatting lessons in a friends shop...in both English and French. I need to put together some kits, as she doesn't actually sell shuttles, so I have bought some bits and pieces from Roseground,( thank you Pat for the speedy and efficient service. :))
I chose Clover shuttles as they are my favourites, but I have gone with Lizbeth size 20 threads as they are so popular with tatters in general. They look good, I have five different colours, three solids and two variegated. I intend giving two contrasting colours in each kit...and am open to suggestions from anyone who has already taught tatting as to how to begin. I was thinking a chain, first, to get the flip...then picots, and then a ring?

I have also bought a new tatting book, La Frivolité aux Navettes. It has only just been published, so I expect that I am the first to review it?
This is a glossy work with lots of photos, it has a good section on the history of tatting from it's roots in knotting right through to modern advances.

It goes on to work through all the variations, of no flip tatting, right side and wrong side, and all sorts of possibilities. I find it quite hard to follow, despite all the good quality photos, however I think it is a book which will help me to improve my technique. It suggests it is aimed at beginners...me, I think you would be somewhat at a loss if this were your first book, as a would-be tatter. On the whole I would give four out of five stars.
It has encouraged me to try a different technique, a spiral with Josephine knots, which I tried here.

Not a brilliant photo, but nonetheless it could be a pretty bracelet in thicker thread.
I am working away on the three ring square in Raspberry sorbet, and I promise to show you at least two joined together next post...

Squares

 I have been making squares with Tatskool's threads. This is Sharon's rose square, that I have admired for a long time. I have to decide now whether this will be a bookmark or a larger square. I am thinking probably a larger square. The scan doesn't do any justice to the colours which glow in real light. Berry burst, for the centre and nightmare thread from Venus, which makes "bigoudis" every time you try to close a ring, but happens to be the right shade of green.

 This one is three ring square, also from Sharon's Marvellous Motifs, done in Raspberry sorbet. The split rings are a bit naff, but I am assuming that I will improve with practise. I think this will look a lot more exciting when it is made up with repeats.

I am showing a snowflake from last time, this time with the ends sewn in. This is Rainbow Light thread and I can't find Jon's book to give you the name of the pattern, sorry!

Some snowflakes

Here are some snowflakes that I made from Tatskool's beautiful threads, and mostly they are Jon's patterns. I kept making mistakes so often...and I wanted to cry, wasting such lovely thread, however I decided to share what I had made, because I am not sure that it shows all that much.

Black, white, colour

 This is a tatted edging for a scarf for my daughter. It should have been ready for Christmas...it wasn't! I mostly tatted this on Thursdays at work, when we sit and listen to the patients telling their story, "Jeudi=je dis" hmm, anyway it happens just after lunch, and I suffer from the terrible desire to fall asleep, so I take my shuttle in my pocket, and discretely get on with this. It has to be simple as I can't look down too often, so dear old Curds and Whey from Mary Konior has been just right.

This blackwork kit is totally not my style, I found it in a charity shop when I was in the UK in November, and felt sorry for it. Someone had begun it with two repeats, and then given up, and repackaged it without the original thread, and leaving the needle rusting in the fabric. As you can tell, my blackwork is not reversible! It is quite soothing to stitch, especially on Aïda fabric.

Here we have some bayeux embroidery, a kit purchased last summer when I went to see the original Tapisserie. It is the figurehead of a Norman ship. I enjoyed this wool on linen embroidery...I might have a go at another one some time, especially as the International Lace Conference will be at Caen this year, and I am really keen to go.